Shelter pets find new homes

In 2007, thousands of cats and dogs were found, surrendered, trapped, discarded and euthanized in area shelters.

Many spent their last days peering from behind bars, uncertain of their offenses and stoically awaiting their fate. Some have been adopted only to be returned for less than perfect behavior; thousands more have been adopted and remain, to this day, in loving homes.

Bud, a 4-year-old pit bull, had been caged at the Humane Society of Spokane since early July. His paws were bloodied from scratching in an attempt to escape his confinement. Pit bulls have bad reputations and visitors to the shelter passed him by.

Larry and Hailey Evans drove to the Humane Society in a snow storm recently just to see Bud and another pit bull, Ivy. The couple had owned an American bulldog and was looking for the breed or a similar one online when they found Bud and Ivy.

Bud and Ivy had been tested, screened and rated at the shelter, and though the environment didn’t help their personalities shine, Larry Evans knew they were the dogs for him. The two played well together. “Dogs are what you see in their eyes,” Larry Evans said, and what he saw was love and appreciation. Now, the dogs romp on 10 acres in Coeur d’Alene.

Cookie and Blackie, heeler mixes, were surrendered to the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service by their owner in June. The two had no social skills and were extremely frightened of men. Their chances of adoption were slim.

Carol Sebastian saw Cookie’s picture in Your Voice when she was highlighted in Feature Creature. She was the spitting image of Sebastian’s dog, Sarah, who had died a year before. Sarah’s companion, Rachel, was lonely.

“The two got along from the start,” Sebastian said. Cookie was renamed Tarrah. “Sounds like terror because she was. She didn’t have a lot of social skills. Still, she gives back more than she destroys. Well, maybe not money-wise but in love … unconditional love,” she said.

Tarrah is an anxious dog but is sensitive to Rachel. “They play, and we take long walks,” Sebastian said. “Tarrah hides if I raise my voice but she’s loving and worth the trouble. We’re in it for the long run.”

Another dog, Blackie, is now named Maggie May by her new owner Jaynee Anderson. “We went to SCRAPS to pick up our lost cat, and we saw Maggie May. She avoided us. She was very shy and scared.”

Anderson and her roommate Deanne Doty knew the dog didn’t have much time so they took her home. “We tend to pick the ones that no one else would want,” Anderson said.

Maggie May has odd behavior. She eats everything including furniture, makes weird noises, sleeps on her back, and she does not like men, but she does like the other pets in the house: nine cats and two other dogs. “She’s still obnoxious but we won’t take her back. It’s the right thing to do. It’s their world, too.”

Mike Scarano adopted a female chocolate lab from SCRAPS before Thanksgiving. The family’s chocolate lab had died, and they wanted another one. They kept going to the shelter until one came in. Michaela Scarano, 5, named her Annabelle. She is already retrieving and will be taught to hunt. The family is still working on her manners but finds her well worth it.

Frodo the cat was adopted from SCRAPS by Kevin Thorson in May. In Feature Creature, Frodo was mentioned as small and agile. “Now he’s big and klutzy,” Thorson said.

Sasha, a Labrador, was adopted in June by Kevin Sheffield. “We saw her in the paper. We didn’t want a puppy, and it said she was housebroken and good with kids and that she fetches. The kids play with her nonstop.” Sasha now chases wildlife on five acres in Spokane Valley.

There are many happy endings for these lost and discarded animals and, thanks to adopters and the shelters in our area, there will be many more in the years to come.