It was love at first site for Barbara, Corry and Charlie!

By Barbara Williamson

Barbara and Corry Vant Hoogt’s beloved Chow died in January. That big furry empty hole could only be filled by another Chow so they went online and found the photo of Charlie, one of the dogs at Pets Alive.

Their hearts leapt…this was the one!

“We set up an e-mail exchange with Pets Alive and someone wrote us back, explaining that Sara was sick. We e-mailed back and said we were still interested, but then we never heard anything,” Barbara said.

As the Best Friends team worked to restore Pets Alive to full function, we discovered a stash of adoption applications in a drawer. One of them was from a woman called Barbara Van Hoogt. We called her. "Do you still want to meet Charlie?"

The Van Hoogts jumped in their car and made a beeline from their home in New Jersey, to Pets Alive. It was a match!

"He is a sweet boy and loves all people," said Barbara. “He presents his tummy for rubs and his tail wags all the time.He’s not playing with his toys yet but we’re hoping he will soon. He is learning to give paw too!

“My husband said we were meant to be patient because Charlie’s the right one. He’s a keeper."

Some of the dogs and cats are already available for adoption! You can view a partial list by clicking here. Our adoption applications are also available here.