Colorado Rockies: Jon Gray impacting the lives of shelter dogs

April 30 is recognized as National Adopt A Shelter Pet Day across the United States. In honor of the day, we sat down with a Colorado Rockies pitcher who has not only brought shelter dogs into his home but also works in the community to find forever homes for other shelter dogs.

Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jon Gray laughs when he describes himself as a former “big dog” guy. With two Yorkies in his house, and a third who touched his heart deeply, Gray now admits that there is probably no going back to larger dogs now … unless it’s a bigger Yorkie.

“There’s a chance we might get a big dog,” Gray told me recently in the Colorado Rockies dugout. “I thought it would be funny if we had a bunch of little Yorkies and maybe one big Yorkie so it looked like a family. We’ll probably stay with lap dogs for most of our lives.”

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Make no mistake about it. Gray is not only a Yorkie guy but also a shelter dog guy. Take a peek at his bio on Twitter and you’ll see he doesn’t hide either of those facts.

Gray’s fascination with Yorkies started in 2013 when his wife brought home Bentley. At first, the 27-year-old right-hander said he wasn’t ready to embrace a smaller dog. However, that didn’t last very long.

“My wife brought him home and I didn’t want anything to do with him,” Gray smiled. “But I fell in love with him on the first day. He was like my little buddy and that’s what got me into Yorkies.”

Bentley has since passed away but Gray immortalized the dog in a touching Instagram post. He has also made sure that Bentley isn’t the only Yorkie that is a part of the Gray family. Trunks and Sophie are now the Yorkie residents of Gray Manor.

Trunks brings an interesting story along with him. Gray grew up as a Dragon Ball Z fan and named him after a Dragon Ball Z character. Trunks essentially has three legs as he was born with a bone down to his elbow on his left front arm but nothing more.

A disabled dog, you might say? Hardly, Gray would answer.

“My wife drove to Kansas City to get this little guy,” Gray said. “He can’t really use that arm at all. You would never know it. He’s the happiest dog ever. I think he knows he is lucky in a sense because he’s always happy, always smiling. It’s weird. He’s always happy.

“I love that little guy. He’s the best thing ever.”

Gray and his wife and now doing what they can to help shelter dogs find forever homes. Kyle Freeland recently told me that Gray’s local work with dogs helped him to support the local cause as well.

“My wife started doing some volunteer work in Denver with Planned Pethood and National Mill Dog Rescue in Colorado Springs,” Gray explained. “We’ve done some events together with them. She’s right there with me. She probably loves dogs more than I do.”

While talking to Gray about his dogs from shelters and experiences he has had helping other dogs, he succinctly summed up why he is so passionate about this part of his life. After all, the ASCPA estimates approximately 3.3 million dogs are in shelters each year in the United States. Gray (and many others) would love to see a day when that number shrinks considerably.

“I think all dogs deserve a chance,” Gray said.