A New Life for Iris
Have you ever been to an animal shelter? Have you ever wanted to go to an animal shelter, but
decided not to go because your emotions may get the better of you? Or maybe, is it because of the stigma that some shelters receive based on their over abundance of a particular breed of animal that may get a bad representation in the media? We face many obstacles in an animal shelter trying to find homes for every animal that comes through our doors. Some of these animals are adopted immediately when they are ready to go to the adoption floor, and some might begin to consider the shelter their new home, as they wait, and wait, for the chance at a forever home. Some of the animals at the shelter will wait as long as a year until we finally find them the perfect match. Whatever the case may be, we won’t ever give up on finding them their new people and place to call home.
This is the story of Iris. Iris is a female, American Pit-Bull Terrier. Iris ended up at the shelter
due to no fault of her own. When she came to us, she needed immediate medical care, for an
altercation she had been in with another dog. After she was given the green light by our awesome Veterinarians, and a clean bill of health, Iris was placed on the floor where our volunteers and staff could begin to work with her and get her on the road to adoption.
Iris was a very high energy dog, and did not like being in her kennel. She would pace, jump, and bark at everyone who walked by. This type of behavior did not make it easy to convince those looking to adopt, to see her as a possible candidate for adoption. Days went by, then weeks, and eventually the weeks turned into months. Still, no one was interested in her. Iris was slowly starting to become depressed. This was noticeable by her behavior in her kennel. She had a 180 degree turn around in her temperament. She no longer barked when people walked by, and she would just lie on her blanket and sulk. All she had to look forward to in her mind was for our volunteers to come in and take her on her walks. She absolutely loved walks, and would go no matter how tired she was.
The toll this was taking on Iris was very visible and we knew that she needed to be adopted soon! We accepted the help of a professional photographer, Lisa Francescon, who was able to take absolutely stunning photos of the shelter dogs, and week after week, we posted her picture to our Facebook page, and still, no one came for Iris. When all of us were at a point trying to decide what to do next, out of nowhere, someone sent us a message regarding Iris.
The lady who messaged us about her, had recently lost her fur-kid of almost 13 years, which clearly devastated her, but yet, she was drawn to Iris. We spoke about Iris over the next couple days and she felt she needed to come meet Iris. We knew Iris was a good girl, and hopefully when she met this kind lady, she would show her what she had to offer. The meet went great and Iris began the process of stealing her heart. The best part of this whole adoption was Iris found her forever home just in time for Christmas!
Iris’ new mom has kept in touch with us, and continues to update us on her progress. Let’s just
say that Iris hit the jackpot with her new mom! Iris’ mom decided to change her name to a more fitting name for their situation. She named her Kairos, which means- something perfect coming together at the right time. The pictures and videos we receive from her tell us that she will be happy for as long as she lives. Iris fit right in to her life and gets to go on long walks and runs which her mom also enjoys.
They have formed a bond where each of them helps the other. I think we can all relate to that kind of a bond or another with our fur-kids. Sometimes, things happen for a reason.
Iris had a long stay at the Shelter, but we think that it was well worth the wait. One of the
hardest things to do as an animal lover is losing them as a best friend. That hole is hard to fill and will never really be completely filled. She took a chance on one of our shelter dogs, and we can’t thank her enough for doing that. Chatting with Iris’ mom, she told us, “I really didn’t rescue Iris, Iris rescued me.”
