NJ Shelter Steps Up: Sponsors Two Special Needs Dogs Looking for Forever Homes

Faced with the realization that they couldn’t personally foster these precious beings, Shelter Showcase finds another way to make miracles happen.

April 11th 2006…The New Haven Animal Shelter forwards two heartbreaking pleas for help…

First… there’s “Scarface”… a sweet, little old gentleman about 10 years old at the New Have Animal Shelter. His family left him at a shelter while recovering from a house fire, but unfortunately for Scarface, after many months waiting at the shelter, his owners decided not to go back for him. Gentle and submissive, he had been an outdoor dog yet still kept his shelter kennel very clean, as if he was housebroken. He even displayed the cutest, quirkiest habit: each morning he would take his “blankie” and a food bowl outside of his kennel, where he was used to spending his day. What did he need? A warm bed, a loving heart, and a place to call his own. It’s harder for older dogs, despite their sweetness and calmness making them great pets, to find homes, but the shelter staff hoped and prayed for a miracle and send out an alert to let other rescue groups that might have room to save this dog.

Then… there’s “Momma Dog”… Dangerously close to her ‘time up’, Momma lived her entire 8 years of life outside on a chain before she was dumped at a Long Island shelter with her puppies. She proved to be a very dedicated mother. She loved her puppies, and she even mothered a second litter of puppies whose mother rejected them. Momma Dog showed love and nurturing, even though her life had been devoid of love. While the puppies were adopted, Momma Dog remained behind anxiously waiting for a home of her own, while shelter staff worried she might not find a home in time to save her life. A staff member put out an alert to find a rescue organization who might be able to take Momma Dog and give her more time to find her home.

That’s where Shelter Showcase comes in. Shelter Showcase is an all-volunteer non-profit organization devoted to helping orphaned pets find loving homes, with the slogan “Helping People. Helping Pets.” Although Shelter Showcase did not have a foster home available for Scarface and Momma Dog, they came up with a marvel idea. How about offering to sponsor these precious pups to help them find a good rescue or foster home, who in turn, would promise to ensure their safety? Would it work?

Not only did it work – it worked fast! Soon after the shelter staff put out an updated alert with the offer that Shelter Showcase would help cover the cost of fostering these two creatures, BOTH Scarface and Momma Dog were rescued!!

Scarface and Momma Dog want to remind people that everyone has the ability to help in their own way. Some people can foster, some people can donate, some people can help their friends and coworker consider adoption or spay and neuter their pets. And some people can take the extra moment to take a better photograph for a pet’s online profile or to send out an alert to spread the word. Everyone has their role in helping – and the animals thank you for it!

Working together, we can save many more Scarface’s and Momma Dogs!

by tina valeri, best friends volunteer