Pet Talk

By Cathy Davis
    She came from Georgia, surrendered by her owner who could no longer care for her, and in Georgia there are so many dogs that need homes, and nowhere near enough homes. The shelters in her area do the very best they can but many of them are forced to euthanize healthy dogs to make room for more healthy dogs to be brought in. A never ending saga of tragedy, one sad face after another, and staff working in burn-out mode, just trying their best to save what they can.
    She was on the list, her time was short, and one of our connections in Georgia contacted Houlton Humane to see if there was any way we could help.  She was a favorite in the shelter, but in this facility, the date is the date and if an animal isn’t adopted by “the date” there is no waiting another day or another week because it’s a good dog.
LOOKING FOR A HOME — Wednesdae is one of many animals up for adoption.
    This was two months ago. She made her journey to Maine and came into residence at our facility and the staff quickly realized she had a food aggression issue. Working with her daily, they tried to train this tendency out of her but sometimes an animal’s background is so ingrained that you just can’t change them, at least not in two months.
    So this beautiful dog was up for adoption with restrictions – in other words, we had to find just the right home where they would be able to work with her issues, and be sensitive to the food aggression.
    A wonderful family came along and took her home but quickly found that this issue was more than they could handle. They brought her back to the shelter. This is something we encourage. Unlike some facilities that won’t take back an animal after you adopt, we want you to bring your pet back to us if it doesn’t work out. Sometimes it just doesn’t, and it doesn’t make you a bad person if you take a dog home and then find out it wants to eat your cats or chew your kids or maul your spouse. Sometimes it’s just not the right fit and we, at the shelter, want the opportunity to make sure this dog is placed in the right home.
     So back she came, and waited a few more weeks. Then another family came along and they were sure they could work with her but as it turns out, it was the kids who needed to be trained – the kids just loved this dog and could not stay away from her when she was eating and this is not a good combination with a food aggressive dog.
    Once more she came back to the shelter.  
    This is a great dog, everybody loves her, she is spayed, has had all her shots, loves other dogs and loves people, but she’s a little bit like me, touch my food and you might get a fork in the back of your hand!
    If you are looking for the almost perfect dog, this might be the right dog for you. If you have other animals, maybe not. Even though she loves other dogs, she might not like other dogs eating from her bowl. But this beautiful girl has had a long journey to come here to Maine to find just the right home and she will find just the right home. With your help, and with a lot of love and patience and additional training, the staff will see to it that she’s placed. 
    If you have any interest in Wednesdae, please call the shelter at 532-2862 for more details, or stop by and meet her. She’s a sweetie, just don’t try to eat her wheaties (ok, dumb rhyme, but I never claimed to be a poet). 
    Enjoy your week, hug your pets, adopt a new dog or cat if you can and thank you for all you do to support animal welfare.