Each Dogwood newsletter highlights cool things donated to the thrift shop and special sales, fund raising events for the animal shelter, and pets available for adoptions. Which leads me to this blog post.
Like most animal shelters and rescue, Dogwood is coping with more animals than they have space for. In February they ran an adoption special and have now extended it to include the entire month of March.
All kennel dogs who have been in an "Adoptable" status for over 90 days will have half-off adoption fees. Adoption fees include all shots, spaying or neutering, and a microchip.
Take a good long look at Hailey, the dog pictured here. She's a beauty and those eyes tell me she's a sweetheart, full of fun. Now, notice that white hair on her muzzle. At our house we call that "sugar lips" and we insist the kisses are sweeter.
Hailey is celebrating her 8th birthday. She has been at Dogwood Animal Shelter since she was two months old. This is the longest a dog has ever been at Dogwood.
As their newsletter notes: it is a bittersweet birthday.
If I had to spend my whole life in an animal shelter, Dogwood would be one I would wish for. This is a relatively new physical facility with an virtual army of volunteers, including their Canine Coaches program that works on obedience and sees to it the dogs get exercise. For all the cat people reading this blog, rest assured, Dogwood's cat rooms are fantastic!
However, Hailey reminded me of other dogs in other shelters that I've stumbled across in the last few years. Dogs that have spent years and years in a shelter. I'm a "no kill" girl myself... but how long is too long to spend in a shelter?
Is life in a shelter better than no life at all? What do you think?
Take another long look at Hailey. The Dogwood Canine Coaches have taught her well. Hailey minds well, is great on a leash and is reported to be extremely sweet and loving. She loves to roll in the grass, though she doesn't get many opportunities to do that. She's a bit particular about what dogs will be her friends. She's spayed, house trained, and weighs 64 pounds.
Hailey is a black lab mix. Well, black with a bit of white, including that ancestral St Johns Water Dog medallion marking on her chest.
The good folks at Dogwood surmise that Hailey has been overlooked because she is a black dog. The plight of big black dogs and Black Dog Syndrome has been written and talked about for years, especially the disproportionate number of black dogs that are euthanized in shelters across our country.
So, Hailey is lucky. Right? Any day now someone could come along and adopt her into a loving home. It's happened. We've all read a few stories about senior dogs finally finding their person.
However, how many dogs live out their years in a "no kill" animal shelter?
How long is too long to live in an animal shelter?.
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