573 DAYS IN AN IDAHO ANIMAL SHELTER – 4-10-12

Billie Jean here we come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today begins a furtastic adventure with my friend, Colleen Adamson, who on April 3rd posted a story on her Facebook page about a dog who had been in an animal shelter for 555 days.  It seemed unimaginable that a dog could spend more than a year and a half in a shelter.

We are on the road, heading 660 miles northeast, to the Animal Shelter of Wood River Valley, a no-kill non-profit shelter in the small town of Hailey, Idaho.  We have with us three dogs from the Sacramento city shelter who had uncertain futures, now destined for adoption, snow, and love.  Colleen has made this trip possible, providing inspiration, motivation, the car, gas.

We return with Billie Jean, a cattle dog/American Staffordshire terrier mix, who arrived at the Idaho shelter on September 14, 2010.  Her estimated year of birth is 2008.  I am adopting her and after having her behavior evaluated adopt her out to a permanent home.  Billie Jean will have a better chance of finding the right home in Sacramento County with almost 1,500,000 people compared with Hailey’s population of roughly 8,000.

The Idaho shelter staff has worked hard to train Billie Jean and she is about to pass her AKC’S Canine Good Citizen test.  Good dog behavior stuff.  They say she is a happy dog, always at the front of her kennel with her tail wagging to greet the staff.  She loves people, is great with kids, gets along with other dogs while on leash but doesn’t want to play with other dogs.  She will need to be in a home with a like-minded dog or to be the only dog.  She needs an owner who understands that she can become overzealous around other dogs because she doesn’t want to play.  She has had kennel mates that worked out just fine.  Looking forward to meeting her.