‘PLEASE BE PATIENT’
Monroe SPCA volunteers “overwhelmed” as hundreds file to adopt pets
MONROE — Hundreds of people have contacted the SPCA of Connecticut animal shelter in Monroe since news broke that the organization needed to find homes for 33 animals by May 6. Now, volunteer Linda Lapine said, the group needs a few a few more who are willing to go above and beyond.
“Oh, my gosh it’s been a wonderful outpouring,” Lapine said Friday. “We have one dog going home today, and three sibling 12-year-old cats are also going home. We’ve been swamped with people applying to adopt. We’re still going through applications.”
But the biggest challenge, Lapine said, is finding the right situation for the animals most in need of TLC. Some of them have lived a hard life, and will require some patience.
“One dog, we call him Bobby McGee, got adopted and returned five times,” she said. “He’s been living in my house now as a foster, and two years later he’s the biggest cuddler and he’s been sleeping in my daughter’s bed.”
The dog that Lapine would most like to see find a forever home, though, is one the shelter volunteers call Cindy Rose.
“She was used as bait in a dog-fighting ring,” Lapine said.
Now a scarred 13-yearold with a benign tumor at the base of her tail, Cindy Rose has spent almost her entire life as a shelter dog, Lapine said.
“When she was younger, she was so traumatized that you almost couldn’t even go near her,” she said. “Now she’s older, and we put coats and sweaters on her. But because of her age, she gets overlooked.”
Shelter volunteers are hoping to find homes for several of the remaining animals over the weekend. A planned Saturday open house adoption event had to be changed to appointment only due to demand.
“We’ve received hundreds of applications to adopt an animal, and we just don’t have the capacity to have that many people there. And you can’t even get a feel for a dog’s personality when there’s that many people,” Lapine said.
In an open letter, shelter volunteers thanked the community for its outpouring of support and asked for patience.
“If you put in an application for an animal, please be patient with us,” the letter said. “We are diligently working through all your applications, emails and phone calls.”
And, among the hundreds of people applying to adopt an animal, Lapine is hoping there is one for Cindy Rose.
“I know there is somebody for her,” she said. “There has to be someone willing to give her a chance.”