Why Not Me? Featured Pets for June

We’ve partnered with Pawsitive Alliance for the #WhyNotMePets campaign to give difficult-to-home pets an extra paw up. These lovable pets are ready to find their forever homes.   

Please take a few minutes to acquaint yourself with this month’s featured pets – Queen, Asher, Summer and Manny!

Name: Queen

Breed:  Pit Bull Terrier Mix

Age/Gender/Size: 9 years / Spayed Female / Large

Likes: LOVES car rides and watching the outside world through the front window

Special Considerations: On joint support medication, needs a single-pet adult home

Contact: dogfoster@thehumanesociety.org

Adoption Fee: Senior Adoption Fee – $80

Queen is a sweet, stately lady who is being fostered by a family through the Humane Society for Tacoma and Pierce County, located in Tacoma, WA. Being an older pup, she has had time to hone her skills when it comes to loving on her people, being a backseat driver and stationing herself as the neighborhood watch. If you need someone to keep a watchful eye open for anyone or anything (squirrel!) that crosses into the yard, Queen is your girl!

Queen is currently on medication to help with joint discomfort, and regular walks help to keep her limber and stiff-free. She didn’t get along well with her last housemate, so this little lady needs to be the only Queen to rule the castle, and rule your heart!  

Name: Asher

Breed:  Pit Bull Terrier Mix

Age/Gender/Size: 2-3 years / Neutered Male / Large

Likes: Playing with his people and being a goofball!

Special Considerations: No cats or small animals

Contact: forgotten.dogs.rescue@gmail.com    

Adoption Fee: $350

Look up the definition of “exuberance” in the dictionary, and you will see Asher’s huge grin smiling back at you. This high-energy guy is currently in a foster home through Forgotten Dogs Rescue in Seattle, Wash., and waiting to meet his furever family. Asher has been described by some as a “bull in a china closet,” as his energy level is off the charts. He has, however, been working with his foster parent on training and how to be a proper gentleman. Impulse control, reading, and following verbal cues, proper leash walking, and establishing playtime rules have been the strongest focuses for Asher.

Given his excitement level and a bit of a lack of spatial awareness at times (wiggle-butt alert!), Asher needs to go to a home without small children, cats and other small critters. We are happy to report that Asher’s furry foster sis really enjoys zooming around the yard and playing with him, but he will need to be teamed with a furry buddy who is well-mannered and has a good tolerance for his fun, goofy antics.

Name: Summer

Breed:   Greyhound, short coat

Age/Gender/Size: 3 years old / Female spayed / Large

Likes: People and running

Special Considerations: Good with other greyhounds, no cats, unknown with children

Contact: Moira Corrigan at fastpaws1998@gmail.com or 206-718-0475

Adoption Fee: $500

Summer is a friendly, happy, and bouncy greyhound who loves people and has a beguiling smile and beautiful black and white markings. She came all the way from South Korea to be rescued by Greyhound Pets, Inc. in Woodinville, Wash. If you are unfamiliar with greyhounds, they are clean, odor-free, indoor dogs that don’t eat a lot or require extensive exercise and make excellent house pets.

Summer is a little different than a typical greyhound in that she is active and loves to run, so she would do best in a home with a yard or with someone who is looking for a running buddy. Shelter volunteers are working with her on her leash skills, and she is eager to please.  Learn more about greyhound personality quirks and care here.

If you can’t adopt now but would like to help out, Greyhound Pets is also looking for a sponsor for Summer as she waits for her forever home.

Name: Manny

Breed:  Shepherd mix

Age/Gender/Size: 5-1/2 / Male / Large

Likes: Playing fetch, cuddling

Special Considerations: He has skin allergies that will require ongoing treatment, no other dogs in the home.

Contact: Whitman County Humane Society, Pullman, Wash., shelter@whitmanpets.org or call (509) 332-3422

Adoption Fee: $175 

Manny has had a rough go of it and now he deserves to be spoiled in a forever home. Manny came to the shelter in extremely bad shape late last year – he was emaciated, had no muscle mass, and his fur was almost completely gone.

But after months of medical care and socialization by Whitman volunteers and staff, Manny now looks fit as a fiddle and loves to play fetch and romp. The shelter reports that he is very smart and the happiest, most grateful pup you will ever meet, even after everything he’s been through. He loves to cuddle too. Manny’s road to recovery has been a long one. He was treated for skin infections with medication and special baths, and he’s now on a special food diet for his allergies. An adopter will need to be willing to continue with the maintenance and monitoring required for allergies.

Manny will have to be the only pet in the household. Being forced to survive on his own has made him aggressive towards other animals with regard to guarding his resources (food, toys, space, people, etc.). He is not reactive on walks when he sees other dogs.

If you have a special place in your heart for a comeback kid, come meet Manny soon. See how skilled Manny is at playing fetch!

Adoption fee?

People are sometimes surprised to find out that most animal shelters have an adoption fee. They might think, “Wait a minute! You got this animal for free so why are you charging me to take it off your hands?” This way of thinking ignores both the costs of housing animals as well as their medical care.

Here are some of the things your adoption fee usually covers:

• Spay/neuter for dogs and cats of age
• Vouchers for spay/neuter for puppies and kittens too young to be altered
• Deworming and parasite medication
• Core vaccines
• Microchipping (at some shelters)

All of these services are recouped in the standard adoption fee, but at a fraction of what you would have to pay most veterinarians. In fact, adopting a pet at a shelter is a net financial gain for most responsible pet parents in terms of the cost of care.

Every month, Healthy Paws will highlight new pets from Pawsitive Alliance’s #WhyNotMePets campaign. Visit the #WhyNotMePets page for a list of adoptable dogs and cats.