L.A. Story: The
Happy Tail Of Shilo
by ANC Staff and Petfinder.com
The Quinns of Culver City, CA, were planning
to get a dog, but adopting a new family member would have
to wait until they returned from their scheduled vacation.
That didnít stop them from dreaming over Petfinder.com,
the largest searchable database of homeless pets on the Web,
and contacting one of its members, 'Connect A Pet Rescue'
in Los Angeles, to get pre-approved for adoption (Connect
A Petís pet list can be viewed at http://connectapet.petfinder.com).
"I figured in the meantime," says Mom
Cathie, "since vacation was a full month away, I could volunteer
at the doggie adoption held by Connect A Pet on the weekends
and that would give me my 'doggie fix'."
She and her daughter drove to the event with
Cathie reiterating that they were not adopting a dog until
after vacation.
"You cannot fall in love with every
dog you see," she warned.
When they got to the event, they were assigned
Shilo, a white shepherd mix. Within an hour, Cathie had fallen
in love.
She called her husband, who couldnít resist
reminding her they werenít getting a dog until after vacation.
But Cathie told him to come down and just
look at Shilo.
Suffice it to say, the Quinns found someone
to keep their new pet while they were gone. "It was a small
price to pay for the wonderful new family member we now have,"
Cathie says.
Since then, the Quinns have adopted a second
dog, Lucky, to keep Shilo company.
Petfinder.com facilitated over a million adoptions
last year alone. The Web site is free, thanks to its sponsors.
In 1998, The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals (ASPCA) partnered with the site to provide shelter
outreach and an extensive library of pet-related materials.
Petfinder.com has also allied with PetHealth,
Inc., to provide a gift of two months of ShelterCare Pet Insurance,
paid for by Petfinder.com, to every dog or cat adopted from
a Petfinder.com member in approved states and provinces. The
program is the first of its kind for shelter pets.
© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.
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