Puppy love: You had me at bark
It’s rare that puppies ever go up for adoption; humane society jammed with applicants
Harriet is on her way home – but she may have a new name when she gets there.
The eight-week golden Labrador puppy was the first of nine pups to leave the Peterborough Humane Society (PHS) for its new home Thursday.
She was adopted by Tracey Morrison and Paul Brown.
They live West Guilford (north of Haliburton) and drove to Peterborough to pick up their new pooch.
It was Morrison’s second road trip to Peterborough this week. She drove to the city Monday to fill out the application for a pup.
Brown and Morrison lost two dogs this year, leaving them with just their seven-year-old beagle, Remi.
About a month ago, they started kicking around the idea of getting another dog and had been looking online.
On Monday, Brown sent Morrison the online link to the Examiner photo of the pups, which said they were ready for adoption.
“So, I drove down after work, and filled out an application and drove back home,” said Morrison (it’s about a two-hour drive).
PHS was jammed with people filing applications for the pups, she said, and no one got to see them that day.
There’d been a buzz around the puppies for weeks, after a heart-warming photo of wee ones was taken by the Examiner when they were four-months old.
The six females and three males were born to two moms that were rescued after their Colborne-based owner was charged with animal cruelty.
The two pregnant dogs were among 20 the PHS received. The adult dogs were adopted from the society within a day, said Susan Dunkley, PHS manager of development and outreach said.
In the past, PHS was in short supply of dogs for adoption, but that’s been changing. Through the society’s partnerships with the OSPCA, Toronto Humane Society and Humane Society International, PHS staff have been working to bring in more dogs.
But puppies up for adoption is rare, Dunkley said.
“So, it’s a bit of a celebration. They’re a lot of work for our staff. Having said that, they bring a lot of joy with their carefree ways,” Dunkley said.
After the pups were born, volunteers stepped up to foster the pups and they were later fixed, microchipped and vaccinated. The public helped with giving them names starting with H.
PHS received 75 applications for the little labs on Monday, all of whom went through an interview process as well.
A team of staff vetted the applications afterward and chose the best fit for the pup, assigning it to an adopter.
Morrison received the call that they’d been accepted on Tuesday. The couple didn’t have a say in what pup they took home, but they didn’t care.
“She has the most gentle eyes,” Morrison said, while holding Harriet on Thursday.
Since the couple didn’t think they’d be getting their new addition until next week, a name for her is still in the works.
Chloe or Maddy is in the running, for now.
“We wanted to meet her today and find out what we wanted to name her,” Morrison said.
The rest of the pups will be in their new homes by the end of next week.