Sweet William Update

For those of you who have followed the story of Sweet William, the one-eyed, 67-pound pit bull-chow mix who has been undergoing cancer treatments:

Sweet William and his Torrance family, the Lockwoods, will be at the Petco store in the Torrance Crossroads Center from 1-3 p.m. April 16, a week from this Saturday.

They're hoping some of his supporters will turn out to give him a hug and to provide some much-needed moral support. As with most treatments, there have been ups and downs along the way.

Noah's Bark, the Manhattan Beach rescue group that took in Sweet William eight years ago, is helping with the treatments for the melanoma that was discovered on the dog's tongue just before Christmas. Sweet William, who went on to be a therapy dog -- and turned into a wonderful family dog as well -- has been the subject of several Daily Breeze articles over the years.

From Tina Lockwood's email this week regarding the upcoming April 16 Petco event:

We aren't doing it as a fundraiser per se, we just want to be there so people who donated at the previous bake sale can come out and see him and get an update and give him a hug. We definitely need all of the positive thoughts and prayers we can get at this point. And last time we were there, the results were miraculous, to say the least. We will also likely have my twins pouring lemonade and/or iced tea for the well-wishers who come out.

Our story from January gives the background and you can also keep up to date with Sweet William's progress on Sweet William's Facebook page.

The Lockwood family from Torrance adopted the gentle, pit bull-chow mix dog Sweet William, 11, from the rescue group that included his caretaker Marilyn Wayne (glasses) eight years ago.Tina Lockwood, her husband and 6-year old twins Matthew and Brianna have given the dog a loving home; just before Christmas, Sweet William was diagnosed with cancer. (Robert Casillas / Staff Photographer)