Here are a few success stories from the animal shelter – true stories about shelter animals finding wonderful new homes and families adopting friends for life.
Wouldn’t you like to be part of an shelter animal success story?
Fiona finds her place
Fiona was looked over so many times at the shelter, because she was one of countless pit bulls that reside in the Macon County Animal Shelter. During the “Home for the Holiday” program, Fiona’s day had come!!! Leslie Kinney swooped her up to take home and foster. Once she arrived at the Kinney home, she was introduced to two other 4 legged siblings who welcomed her with open arms. Needless to say, she is now a permanent fixture in the Kinney home!! Good luck to you and we are so greatful for people like you! Fiona is in the middle of the family picture..
A little about Ice:
He was formerly known as Kent at the shelter but we changed his name to Ice to match his beautiful ice blue eyes. He’s an almost-one-year-old, deaf, pit bull that we adopted from the Macon County Animal Shelter at the end of April. He is an incredibly sweet and loving “lap” dog who absolutely loves to be around people. He is good-natured, playful, patient, and more wonderful than we could have ever imagined. My family and I are forever grateful to the kind and generous people of the Decatur & Macon County Animal Shelter Foundation and all of the shelter workers and volunteers who helped to make Ice’s adoption possible. Their love, caring, and passion for the well-being of animals like Ice, not only spared his life, but also allowed my family to learn first-hand how a dog truly completes a family.
How we came to find the newest member of our family:
On Good Friday I happened to see a picture of this gorgeous white, blue-eyed pit bull on a friend of a friend’s Facebook pit bull rescue page. I asked my friend about the dog and was told that he was at a shelter in Decatur. So I quickly located the Decatur & Macon County Animal Shelter website and scanned through the adoptable dogs until I located his picture. I read his “profile” and instantly fell in puppy love. However, since it was Good Friday the shelter was closed; so I left a rambling voicemail stating my interest in him and my hope that no one had adopted him yet as I wanted to come out to meet him as soon as possible. After leaving the voicemail, I just sat there re-reading “Kent’s” profile and looking at his picture, all the while worrying that he would already be gone by the time someone called me back. I decided I didn’t want to take any chances, so I tried calling another number listed on the webpage. It was then that I was put in touch with Foundation member, Shirley! She and I chatted at length about “Kent”. She told me all she knew about him and I told her that my family and I would happily make the 3 hour road trip bright and early the next morning to meet “Kent”.
Meeting Day:
After packing up the truck with our 15 year old daughter, her friend, and our 4 year old twin boys, my husband and I set out on our mini road trip from the far Western suburbs to meet “Kent”. We spent several hours at the shelter in the play yard getting to know one another. We talked to “Kent’s” awesome care-takers about how they communicated with him, about using hand signs to get him to sit, etc. They also told us important things about what he liked and some of his funny habits. We spent time brushing him, slowly introducing him to the kids, playing fetch with him, giving him treats, and getting down on the ground with him only to realize he thought he was a lap dog! Our meeting was great. The adoption process was a breeze. The Foundation was extremely generous and considerate. The shelter workers were all friendly and knowledgeable. My family and I had fallen in love with “Kent”. Everything was almost perfect. “Kent” just needed to be neutered and then he would be able to come home.
Honest Reflections – I Had Second Thoughts:
For a couple of weeks after Ice came home, I was nervous about being the new owner of a pit bull. The fact that he was deaf and also a “shelter/rescue” dog added to my uncertainty. Plus I was well aware of the ugly stories and the bad press surrounding his breed. In the back of my mind I worried about things like leaving the kids and Ice in the living room alone if I walked into the kitchen. What if they took a toy away from him and he became aggressive? What if they pulled his tail or ears? What if they ran and he chased them? All of these questions/imaginary scenarios made me second guess the decision we had made. I never intended to adopt a dog and not fulfill my commitment to give him a happy life, but I truly did wonder if the decision we had made was a wise one.
Fast forward to today – Our Family is Now Complete:
As you can see from the pictures, Ice has made a nice adjustment and has settled into a very comfortable routine with us. He is truly a member of our family. We all love him dearly. My husband and I are like proud new parents again, sharing with one another the cute and funny things that Ice does when one or the other of us is not there to see it happen. I frequently take pictures of Ice with my phone and text them to my husband throughout the day and he in turn shows them to any and all co-workers who will stop to take a look. The kids love Ice too, particularly the twins – perhaps almost as much as Ice loves them. I can’t believe how tolerant and patient he is with them. He has even graduated to sleeping in their room every night. Ice makes himself comfortable under the boys’ beds when we tuck them in at night and makes no move to follow us when we leave and close their bedroom door. As each day passes, our love for Ice continues to grow and I wonder what we ever did without him. Words alone cannot express our gratitude. Thank you again to everyone at the Decatur & Macon County Animal Shelter and Foundation for helping to make my family complete.
Sincerely,
Michelle, Jeremy, Kylie, Jeremy Jr., and Jayden Crete
MOOSE FINDS A FAMILY
Moose was adopted 2 years ago by our son Corey. It took about 3 months for him to relax and settle in but slowly with a lot of patience and reassurance he became comfortable and felt safe.We are not sure what he had been through before he came here. He is a big part of the family and worth every bit of understanding and patience he was given.
Blackbone’s story…
My name is Blackbone (AKA Dandy) and I was living in your shelter for two years before being adopted by my best friend, Izaiah a year ago. My first couple of days in my new home were strange. I hid under furniture and stayed away from my new family as much as I could. Today things are much different for us all. I love to run the house and play with my boys. I also like to ride on people’s shoulders and try to climb anyone who will stand still long enough. I stay in the house most of the time. However, my family built me a small fenced in area just off of the sunroom so I can explore outside when the weather is nice. My new family loves me and I love being part of a family. I love hanging out with Izaiah the most. He carries me around and lets me lay with him while he plays games. Our favorite game is when he chasing me, then I turn around and chase him. I hope other people adopt pets like me from your shelter. Its great to have a home and I know I have brought joy to the lives of my new family.
BROTHERS GO HOME TOGETHER -
Albert & Spot were kittens when I adopted them on 1.1.09. They have a closet full of clothes and they adore being dressed in their t-shirts for the evening. They both also enjoy playing fetch. They are just as spoiled as two cats can be, they have more toys than you can imagine. As these guys being my first pets, they have brought me more love and joy than I could have ever imagined.
MURPHY
We adopted our dog from your shelter on November 4 and thought we would send
an update. His name at the shelter was Bo Jangles, but we named him Murphy.
He is a wonderful dog! He’s very loving, loves to ride in the car, go on
walks, and sit very close to us. He follows my husband around everywhere and
sleeps at his feet while he is on the computer. The only issue we’ve had
with him is that he loves to get in the garbage when we leave. We’ve tried
crating him (which he didn’t like so we discontinued that), we bought a very
expensive garbage can that we thought he would not be able to get in, but he
did, and we tried something called a Thundershirt, which is supposed to help
with separation anxiety. None of them worked, so we just try to remember to
put the garbage up when we leave. Other than that, we couldn’t have asked
for a better dog. Thank you for helping us find him!
Happy Dog!Cindy Wilson
Would you and your furry friend(s) like to be a success story?
Send an email to info@DMCASF.org and attach photos with your story for consideration.
