Adoption Stories
We have too many "Happy Tails" to put on one page so we decided to share those with you by posting our adoption reports.
In June, 2008, the Pottawatomie County Humane Society received a call from the City of St. Marys concerning a Golden Retriever that had been at their City Pound for a long time. He was going to be euthanized and they wondered if we might be able to help. We told them to bring him right over and called one of our foster homes that has a soft spot for Goldens. Dr. Jeff Atwood and his daughter, Taylor, immediately came out to the pound to pick this sweet guy up. They took him home and named him Prince. After posting him on Petfinder we received a call from Patrick Giller in Overland Park. He felt that Prince was the perfect dog for he and his wife, Cara. Their 13 year old yellow lab passed away in February and they wanted to rescue a golden retriever for a household companion. We arranged a meeting for Patrick and Prince at the Atwood's house and it was a perfect match. The following is one of the emails we received from Patrick after he adopted Prince. Prince is now "Buddy" and since this email has learned to fetch the Sunday newspaper.
"Thank you for the pictures! I will keep them in our scrapbook with other pictures of our new "baby"! We are having so much fun with Buddy, taking him on walks, playing with him in the yard, taking him to Petsmart and even going to our neighborhood swimming pool! He is such a happy puppy! I plan to take more pictures this weekend and I will send them to you. Again, a very special thanks to you and the Atwood's for all you do for the pets! Without your help, we would have never met and Buddy would not be a part of our family!" -Patrick Giller
Kelsi and Roxy are 12 years old and too young to walk the dogs at the Shelter so they came up with another way to help. They stayed up until 1 am one Sunday morning and baked dog biscuits from scratch and then sat in front of the Friendly Cooker down town and sold them. They raised $103.75 for the Shelter and it was on a very hot day! The women at Landmark Bank, next door, brought water out for them. We are always amazed at the generosity of people and so glad to see our dogs benefit from their kindness. Thank You!
Houston was accused of attacking another dog and placed in the pound until his case went to court. Houston spent nine months at the pound including the winter months in freezing cold and the blistering months of summer. He came to know the routine and to trust all of us. He knew he was loved and became better with the other dogs as time passed.
Jessica from Wakefield asked if she could help Houston by adopting him. She had seen Houston when she adopted another Pit Bull from us (Malto).
Before his court date, Julie Appino (PCHS Foster Home and Licensing Manager) and Jessica wrote Judge Ireland letters asking that Jessica be allowed to adopt Houston and work with him on socialization around other animals. The Judge ruled that Houston could go with Jessica as long as she did not live in the Wamego city limits. Here is his story after a nearly three months in his new home with her:
It's hard to believe, that just a few short months ago, Houston's fate, was at the end of the vet's needle, to go to sleep, and never to wake up. It is now, the beginning of November, only 2 1/2 months after what was a very long court process, to which a Judge found it within himself, to go out on a limb, and let Houston be adopted by a new family. The family consists of his Human Servant, 3 Perro De Presa Canarios, 4 horses, 2 APBT's rescued from shelters, 6 chickens, and one duck. (yes, a duck...)
Most of Houston's time has been spent alone with his Human Servant, in the sleeper-cab of a semi truck, rumbling down the highway at all odd hours of the day and night. The benefit to this, is absolute bonding, and the keen ability to handle new situations and new people without getting too excited both good and bad.
Houston has been 'loose' on the farm on several occasions both supervised, and unsupervised. This is the first time he has been freely around the other two APBT's both supervised and not. The pictures speak for themselves.
It is still my strong opinion, that any animal's behavior reflects its surroundings and situation and that Houston's 'aggression' was purely based upon the previous home he once had.
Every day I am so grateful, that Judge Ireland, took that leap of faith and awarded Houston into our home. There hasn't been a day go by, where
Houston doesn't repay the hard work and effort, by laying his head on my lap, licking my nose till it hurts, and hogging the whole bed. All
three of my Shelter APBT's are the most wonderful dogs I have ever had, and if one person could save the world, I would save all of the APBT's
from every shelter and give them homes that help them grow.
Thank you to all who worked hard, and everyone's efforts into saving Houston's life. To save the life of one, may save the life of another... “
Jessica
