Oh for the love of... Part two

Meet Misty.

Misty

We know we can't even begin to 'replace' Yukon who we lost two weeks ago but our surviving pet, Mr. Bentley, needs a companion and everyone from vets to friends tells us we have a relatively short window to introduce a new dog into our pack. Mr. Bentley is now ten years old and though in good health we can see the loss of Yukon has hit him just as hard as it did my wife and I. Years ago when we lost our first Husky, Tundra, the surviving one, Chinook, did the same thing as Mr. Bentley is doing now. I call it ghosting. Literally in just two weeks his coat has become noticeably more grey. Ten year old Huskies are normally starting to grey as they age and Mr. Bentley was no exception but he's now a shade lighter than just weeks ago. 

So even though we are still grieving for Yukon, we set about searching for a new pet. The decision would ultimately rest upon Mr. Bentley's approval, as it did ten years ago when we introduced him to Yukon. Chinook and Tundra, our first pair of Huskies, had been rescued through Polaris Husky Rescue in Fort Collins (Polaris seems now to have been absorbed by North Star Siberian Husky Rescue who's website seems not to be maintained or active any longer...) and our second pair, Mr. Bentley and Yukon, had also come to our home through a Husky Rescue so we knew we would be looking through either a Rescue or animal shelter for our next pet. 

Since this decision was primarily about getting Mr. Bentley a companion (Huskies seem to generally do better with another dog to play with and keep them out of trouble!), being able to introduce them in person (in dog?) was critical. Sadly, in my opinion, 'shopping' for a new pet through a rescue seems to have gone the way of all things retail - look online, find what you want, order and it will be delivered. Granted, with the rescues we contacted there is still some vetting of the new owner including reference checks to ensure a good forever home but the in person (in dog?) introduction of the actual dogs seems to have gone by the post-pandemic wayside. 

We also perused the online offerings of the local animal shelters. Pet owners will not be surprised by the massive numbers of dogs and cats ( and hamsters, chickens, rabbits etc.) in animal shelters needing homes which in my mind begs the question of why there are still so many puppy mills and (some) unscrupulous breeders churning out more pets in an already saturated market but suffice it to say there was no way we were going to add to the coffers of businesses (and yes, they are businesses) who's primary concern is turning a dollar.

Ultimately we settled on Foothills Animal Shelter as it is in our neck of the woods (one of the rescues we considered was in Oklahoma and had more than 200 huskies available - and yes, we would have made the trip for the right doggie). We had never been to Foothills Animal Shelter (FAS), though it has been around since 1976, so didn't really know what to expect. Located right off of West 6th Avenue in Golden, Colorado, FAS focuses on several communities from Golden, Wheatridge, and Westminster to Arvada, Lakewood, and Edgewater as well as the greater Jefferson County area. While not technically a no-kill facility FAS does have an impressive record of placing/reuniting pets. In 2022 FAS sheltered 8,978 pets which was up 21% from 2021. 6,033 pets were adopted (up 14%) and 2,022 pets (up 20%) were reunited with their owners. I'm getting these statistics from the FAS 2022 Annual Report which I'm sure most pet owners never look at as they're focused on the micro level of adopting or finding their lost pet. 

I'm all in favor of no-kill shelters but am pragmatic enough to realize that we don't live in a perfect world (which is news to absolutely no one) but I wanted to see how hard FAS was striving to avoid euthanizing animals. There's a somewhat cold sounding statistic called the "Live Release Rate" and Foothills number is 93%. Kudos to Foothills for at least making this number readily visible in their annual report as I could not easily find it for other local municipal shelters. Is 93% a good or bad number? Hard to say, but according to the National Database of Shelter Animal Count:

               data shows that not only are more dogs entering shelters than are leaving, the non-live outcome rate for dogs has nearly doubled (from 5.6% to 10%) when comparing Q1 2021 to Q1 2023. This means nearly twice as many dogs did not leave shelters alive during the first three months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2021.

Another plus in favor of FAS was that they do allow in person (in dog?) meetings between current and potential adoptive pets. Mr. Bentley met with two Huskies up for adoption and he (as well as my wife and I) all agreed that Misty (her shelter name was Jesse, but had only been given that name several weeks prior) was the right fit for us. She is our first female dog and I joke that Mr. Bentley and I are now definitely outnumbered gender-wise but heck, that was already the case when it was Mr. Bentley, Yukon and I as I can confirm that happy spouse does indeed make for a happy house. 

Misty is purportedly 8 years young though she is exhibiting more puppy-like traits than her age would suggest. She is clearly not ready for her canine AARP card. She was picked up in Westminster as a stray and had no collar or microchip and apparently no doggie owners came looking for her. And yes, she is spayed and will not be adding to the out of control pet population. Thankfully she is housebroken and has a gentle and loving personality. Already our hearts are opening to this new bundle of fur. As for Mr. Bentley, he seems accepting of his new canine companion though he is still getting used to her antics. They tell us it will take about a month or so but we're cautiously optimistic as we welcome Misty to her new forever home...

Misty and Mr. Bentley getting acquainted