Two Lucky Pups

I volunteer with a canine rescue group in Carson City, Nevada. After our much beloved Ginger passed, our first poochie acquisition was the littlest Staffordshire Terrier, Sassi. She and two pups had been dumped in the desert and found by a shelter. She was then given to our group where the puppies were adopted out. She was a handful of energy and mischief, but she and we fell in love. A year later, Doc, our big Staffordshire, was found nearly starved to death (down to 35 lbs from 75 lbs now) and our group rescued him, plumped him up and we took him in as our foster boy. However, after three months, we couldn't part with him - he's such a sweet baby! They are now both our "kids" and we adore them and they adore each other. They are being properly spoiled and being properly trained and we are being properly entertained with their antics. We are a bit long in the tooth to have two energy balls like Sassi & Doc, but they keep us young.

Scarlet's joyful spirit

Scarlet was dumped at a shelter from a very young age and had been living there for about 6 months. A friend of mine was working at the shelter at the time so I would browse the dogs they had up for adoption out of interest. I saw Scarlet on the site one day and asked my friend about her – she was about to be put down as she was going kennel mad and no one had shown any interest in her. I thought it was heartbreaking that this poor girl had been brought into the world, spent the first 6 months of her life in a kennel and then was simply going to be killed – no animal deserves an existence like that. I asked my friend about rescuing her, spent some time convincing my parents to let me adopt her and she was shipped to me 3 days later. I’ve had her for 2 years now and it’s been wonderful spending that time with her. She’s an absolute joy to have around and I’m so glad that I rescued her – she has the most wonderful spirit and I feel great knowing I was able to keep it alive.


Josie Eldred
Katoomba, Australia

Melanie gets a home!

Who could resist a sales pitch like this…

UPDATE!!!! Melanie has become very very very stressed at the shelter, and needs a home of her own asap. She is depressed, and barely moves when her shelter moms are not at the shelter.

Sweet Melanie is a 4 year old female Black Lab mix. She has been at Hillside SPCA for over 2 years now, and is really ready for a home. She is adorable, and such a sweetheart, she loves to give kisses, and go for walks. Melanie was brought in by the dog warden when her owners kept leaving her to run the neighborhood. She has been with us since then. She loves other dogs, and is good with older children.

She has two shelter moms who she worships, unfortunately their home is already full of other dogs, and she just cannot go home with them, she really needs to find her own home. Melanie loves to go hiking, and walking, she LOVES when you get the leash down and spins in circles in excitement, until you get the leash on her then she's ready to go!!

Melanie gives the best kisses, and knows how to sit, and wait patiently for her snacks, she is a good eater, and loves to play with some of the other dogs. She would be ideal in a home with someone active who will take her for hikes, and walks often, she would even be a great jogger.  Sometimes at first meeting Mel can be very shy, but she quickly overcomes the shyness, and will be your best friend if you take her for a nice long walk, and give her some treats. Melanie's ideal home would be someone active, who has time to walk her often, with another dog or two, if any kids, they should be 12 years or older, and NO cats. Mel is no fan of kitties. Melanie loves Dunkin Donut's coolatas, and sour gummi worms, haha, she's really a special girl, who has been waiting so long for a home.

On the days that her shelter moms don't work she just lays in a dog house all day, and won't even come out, and her shelter mom's can't be there forever so it's time she gets her own home!!! She's just another black dog, that is ignored day after day while the tan, white, brown, and other "cuter" dogs get homes.  Please help us find the right home for Mel, no dog should spend 2 years at a shelter, she should live her life on a sofa, and on long walks.

Happily, Melanie is now living the good life in her forever home with Karen, Jim and her new best buddy Hobbes (her couch companion above).

Our Chrystal Clear Rescue Experience

Two years ago, we found ourselves disheartened after we lost our three elder dogs within a very short period. Because dogs have always been an important part of our family, finding ourselves without these family members left a hole in our lives.

While considering different dog breeds, we took a trip to our local shelter, the Steuben County Humane Shelter. We had always had pure bred dogs in the past and had some concerns about the animals we might find.

We toured the shelter for quite a while, and took several of the dogs out for walks and some one-on-one play time. All the dogs were appreciative, but Chrystal just seemed to connect with us.

Chrystal was a one year old Beagle-Basenji mix. But she had spent 7 months in the shelter. We were told that she had actually been adopted twice and returned both times. (Basenjis apparently don't like cats at all.)

She was cute and playful. But we're afraid that she had spent too much time in the shelter to be socialized. We were also concerned that she had been brought back twice before.

Chrystal turned out to be very well behaved and, incredibly, was already house broken. Over the next year, Chrystal's personality developed fully and she has become the most loving, energetic, adoring (especially towards my husband) and appreciative dog, we've ever owned.

And the other dogs at the shelter have benefited as well. As a result of our experience with Chrystal, we have become supporting members of our shelter, and volunteer with projects to raise money for our Privately Funded shelter.

Thank you for ALL you do for Shelter animals everywhere. I could Never again get an animal anywhere else. There are so many great pets just needing another chance for that perfect Forever Home.

Mary Whiting
Angola, IN