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SHELTER SUCCESS STORIES
Please check this link regularly as we will be updating it with "Shelter Success Stories" - stories of how adopted animals found a new home.
JACK - Submitted by Greg Fish
Editor, The Bar Harbor Times
Jack came to the SPCA of Hancock County in March, a beautiful and powerful Shar Pei-Lab mix of six months. His previous owners had another dog, and while they cared for Jack, they found him to be too much to handle and turned him over to the shelter. When he arrived he was frightened, nervous and had not learned many basic commands. He had a tendency to present himself as aggressive when he saw people, often barking and rushing his kennel door.
Jack ended up being at the shelter for four months, but that extended stay gave the staff plenty of time to work with him on his issues. They helped teach Jack much needed commands, such as getting him to sit and stay, reinforcing the lessons until he was comfortable with them and much better behaved. As he matured and got more familiar with seeing and greeting people, he really came around. From being one of the loudest shelter dogs, he became one of the best manned and quiet dogs. All those lessons paid their dividends for Jack, who was adopted by a Down East family late in the summer. He is now sharing a home with another Shar Pei-Lab mix and is doing quite well.
ZEUS - Success Story Submitted by the Campbells
Dear SPCA-
Zeus is doing well and is loved very much. He is a very smart puppy. He has mastered a few commands already. The potty training is going well also, he has an accident every once in a while but for the most part he's doing a good job. He loves to be held, go for rides in the car, and play outside. He and Jewel are becoming good friends. Our cat Mr. Whiskers is still quite scared of him but he gets a little closer each day.
Thank you very much for letting us adopt him, he has made a very special addition to our family.
The Campbells
Jeff, Dawn, Cole and Brody
KING - Success Story Submitted by Doe Wright
My 17 year old dog didn't want me to bear the burden of what he was so clearly trying to communicate. Day after day he sought solace in the rainy autumn woods only to be collected in my arms and brought back home. The night before our final goodbye, Chance came inside for the first time weeks and lay on his bed. The next morning on our way to the vet's office, he let me carry him to the car and stayed in my arms until his eyes closed for the last time. Eventually, food bowls, collars and beds were put away and mostly forgotten. Not forgotten was my dear hiking buddy, my enthusiastic greeter, and my car and couch companion.
I missed my friend but found great cheer by exercising the dogs at the SPCA. At the onset of winter, the SPCA was alerted to rescue an abandoned black lab who, for weeks, was left tethered to a derelict car receiving little or no food and water. The owner intended to surrender him much sooner, but her ability to communicate was delayed due to complications from a serious illness and eviction from her home. At the shelter, the staff made a full medical and behavioral assessment of King. He arrived as an in-tact, six year old male with advanced periodontal disease and serious ear infections. When approached, King displayed fearful aggression.
At the Lucerne Veterinary Hospital, King received a full dental scaling, extraction of eight loose teeth, treatment for ear infections and was also neutered. During recovery at the shelter, staff addressed King's display of fearful aggression. Progress came swiftly and the "I'm available" sign appeared on his kennel door.
I couldn't complete the application fast enough! Once approved a date was set for our family to meet King. Sitting on the floor of the SPCA office Doug instructed us to let King approach us. Very tentatively, he sniffed our outstretched hands, settled close by on the floor and let us pat him. Clearly a gentle soul but he needed some help staying in that frame of mind.
Apparent over the next few weeks was King's dramatic lack of socialization. On walks he feared trash cans and parked cars. At the bus stop, kids running up the hill would cause him to strain at the leash and bark aggressively. At home, his fear manifested itself in warding off anyone entering our home -- especially kids. Upon reviewing his intake form, his actions all made sense. The majority of his life was spent indoors or tethered outside. He was taken on car rides but never taken on walks nor had any contact with children.
After sharing King's behavior issues with a friend, she recommended I contact her dog trainer. At her home, the dog trainer worked with King for two weeks … then it was time to train me. By continuing to expose King to all the things he feared and using the proper correction techniques, in about six months King was just about bullet proof.
Today, King can be found happily swimming at Somes Pond surrounded by a half a dozen splashing kids or on the trails of Acadia National Park welcoming pats from unfamiliar people. At the end of our road, he calmly saunters among the kids running off the bus. With all of his 100 pounds, he loves snuggling and makes the best comforting "hums." He is a true sweetie-pie. He just needed some help getting there.
 BANJO, BELLE, FREYA, FARFELLE & FIONA
Success Story Submitted by Melissa Ossanna
My husband and I both had lots of pets while growing up, but in the summer of 2007, we had each spent quite a few years with no pets at all. When we walked into the Hancock County SPCA with our almost two year old son, we were just planning on inquiring about the adoption process for a cat, we weren’t going to adopt quite yet. But, as luck would have it, there were two sweet 4-month old tabby sisters, new to the SPCA, sitting somewhat timidly in a cage together near the door. We fell in love and couldn’t leave without them. Banjo and Belle became our son’s first pets, and our welcomed return to cat companionship, after many years without.
Thus the addiction began. Our two new kitties had so quickly become an integral part of the family, we felt that perhaps we could help another cat…or two…or more! Over the next year and half, we added Freya, just a tiny tabby kitten when we got her, Farfalle, a fuzzy, assertive older kitten who selected us and would not allow us to leave the adult cat room, and Lily, and a shy orange long-haired cat who hid for days when we first brought her home, but now weaves around our legs in the evening, purring so loud there’s an echo. After that, we fell in love with Fiona, a sweet, black, super affectionate mama cat.
Each time we added a new cat, I was nervous, hoping the new addition would not throw off the happy cat dynamic we had in the house. Each time my fears were unwarranted, and after the requisite day or two of frequent hissing, they worked it out and all became friends.
Welcoming cats into our home when our son was young was great…the cats worked with us to teach him limits. He knows now how to respect animals, how to care for them, and how to tell when they do and when they don’t want attention. I work in a home office, and since our cats are all indoors, my desk, my printer and the cat bed by my chair are usually filled with ‘furry co-workers’ throughout the day. In the evening, when we all gather in the front room to watch a bit of TV or just sit and read, every cat and every person can be found within a 10 foot radius, enjoying each other’s company. It can’t get much cozier than that!
Melissa Ossanna
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Watch this website for more success stories from the shelter in the near future.
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