We’re back with another segment of CACC Adoption Tails! Every week, I’m highlighting stories of pets adopted from our city municipal shelter. The goal of this series is to encourage more people to check out our open-admission shelter. You can find more details about the series, the mission, and its goals here.
Let’s get started with this week’s featured pet, Cheese! (and no, not my Cheese!)
Your pet’s name
Cheese
Instagram handle
Pet breed/age
Siberian Husky, 1.5-years-old
When did you adopt your pet from CACC?
July 15th, 2019
What were your thoughts about CACC before you visited?
I didn’t really have thoughts because I didn’t know too much. I thought that it would be like a typical shelter. It was sad to hear that they have to euthanize dogs when they are over capacity. I had visited PAWS before and thought it would be similar. Also, I knew of rescues that often foster or re-home dogs from CACC.
What made you decide to visit our city shelter vs getting an animal elsewhere?
I was searching for a dog all summer and my co-worker who works with a rescue organization told me about the over-capacity of the city shelter. She said that they potentially can put dogs down when there is overcrowding. She said that there are so many great dogs at the shelter so I looked and it was true. I was very open to rescuing any kind of dog but I wanted a long-haired dog.
What was your initial impression of CACC when you first walked in?
I was very nervous and I was actually scared because of all of the security. In fact, I almost walked out from standing in line, I had lots of anxiety. In my line, there were two surrenders in front of me and also behind me. It was all very overwhelming. Once we had permission to go into the pavilions, my sister and I walked in together and it was quiet for a second. And then one dog started to barked and then the rest of the pavilion started to bark. I saw the first dog and she was shaking her butt and I immediately started to cry. Every dog I engaged with was so wonderful.
What made you choose your pet?
When walking through the pavilions I saw, formally Ghost, curled in a ball on his elevated bed. We thought he was so sweet and didn’t want to disturb him. He was asleep and when we walked away he got up and started to “wootle” at the gate. He was so skinny and I immediately thought he was so sweet and I felt like I needed to save him. He was actually pending for another rescue so I asked staff to see what the status of that was. They were all so very helpful and everything aligned so that we could take him home that day. We got to interact with him outside and he was very happy to be out.
How were you treated? How was “customer service”?
I felt like I was treated fairly, the dog handlers seemed intimidating but that should be expected since they are managing potentially reactive dogs. The service I received at the end was so wonderful. The man who approved us and got our paperwork was so encouraging, we were there ready to adopt and he made everything work out so that we could go home with our new pup.
How was the actual adoption process? Was there anything you would change?
We were lucky that the pending time from another rescue was expired. Had we not been there and asked I believe that Cheese, formally known as Ghost, would have been there another night. They constantly warned us about Cheese and the husky behavior, I was prepared to and meet the needs of a working dog. We weren’t sure if he was fully husky but after a DNA test we found out he was in-fact 100% Siberian Husky.
What do you want people to know about open admission (“kill”) shelters?
I want them to know that you can find a great companion at a “kill” shelter. You can save an animal and just care for it for a short period of time even and rehome on your own. Some dogs may be hard to work with but if you seek out help immediately your dog can be much happier and you will be more confident as a dog owner. I believe that no one method works for every dog. If you are looking for a certain breed you can probably find that breed, depending, at the shelter. Most likely those dogs were surrendered or found because their caretaker didn’t know how to care or handle and did not seek help when needed. Cheese was a stray before and we don’t know where he came from.
What’s your favorite thing about your pet?
I love that Cheese is so so brave. He will try everything and anything, he jumped into the pool his first time seeing a pool. He will attempt anything head-on and completely trusts where we are going. I love that he is so playful, he lives for attention and play. It is his favorite thing in the whole world, next to his dog friends at dog parks.
