Mr. Muffin, Super Mario & Luna Fitz

Amanda Fitz of New Baltimore adopted Fritz on June 18, 2007, she changed his name to Mr. Muffin. In the "Happy Tail" Amanda sent, she says that Mr. Muffin likes "napping with me, on my head ☺".  "This is definitely the "worlds best cat".  "He loves to be groomed, gives kisses and plays with his best friend Super Mario."  "He has a hard time climbing up on things with his bad leg, but Super Mario is always there for support & to give him a boost up when he needs it ☺."  "I love my kitties more than words can express."  "Thank you Friends for Dearborn!"

Recently, Amanda sent us a greeting card with photos of her 3 feline beauties and writes:

Hi Everybody!!

    Everything is going well.  Mr. Muffin and Super Mario are best friends.  They love to give each other baths☺!  And Luna, well she's just Luna.  Off in her own cat world.  She is on her own and doesn't socialize much, but I love her.  I love them all!!  Thanks for taking care of all of them before I adopted them all. 

    I'll keep in touch.

This space is hoping for
a photo of Guennie

In 2001, I jokingly told my husband that I wanted a kid or a cat, because I really wanted a cat.  Well, a few months later, I was pregnant and still had no chance of talking my husband into getting a cat.  As our beautiful daughter, Skyler, has been growing up, we've discussed getting a pet for her.

In the summer of 2006, while we were studying bugs, my daughter and I captured a grasshopper that she promptly decided was going to be her pet.  (That wasn't in my plan.)  The grasshopper was a good pet (It was diurnal, not nocturnal), but we still wanted to get her a pet that would LAST longer and that would be a bit furrier.

In April 2007, my husband, Barry, and I stopped by the Dearborn Animal Shelter after work, before we picked our, no 5 year old, Skyler up from school.  We walked in the door with the intention of just getting information on what fees and applications were needed to get a cat and what, if any, services were handled prior to us getting the cat.  We walked back, briefly looked at the dogs, and headed for the kitten room.  Barry had said a few times prior to walking into the kitten room, that he would only consider a black cat.  When we walked into the kitten room, I immediately began looking at kittens under a year old.  Living in side-by-side cages, Trinity and Cherry stood out to me.  Both of these loveable cats were playing through the bars and batting at my hair and trying to play with me.  I recognized the wonderful personality that a cat I used to have had.  After holding Trinity and snuggling her and her loving it, I was sold.  She was even the perfect color-black with tiny flecks of white in her fur.  There was only one problem - I was supposed to be going on vacation soon.

I filled out the application and didn't put Trinity's name on it, in case someone else adopted her before we returned from vacation.  Every day, until the day we left, I checked to see if Trinity was still available via Petfinders.  The Monday after we returned, I called the shelter and asked them to put Trinity's name on our application.  That day, we told my daughter that she was getting a kitten.  Skyler immediately wanted to go shopping for her "little sister".  We went out and got a special collar and ID tag for her.  Skyler and I picked her up at the vet's office two days later and Skyler was so happy to be able to slip a collar on Trinity's (now Guenhwyvar's) neck.  On the drive home, Guenhwyvar cried a few times, until Skyler told her that she was our family and she would be with us.  At that, Guenhwyvar immediately quieted down.

Guennie, as she is nicknamed, loves pouncing on Skyler's and Mommy's ponytails.  She enjoys pouncing on the top of our recliners and listening to us reading.  Her favorite toys are her light-up ball and her green and pink striped stuffed mice.  She will walk around the house, with her "Baby" mouse and cry.  The she outs the mouse down and races around the house, before bringing her second "baby" to us.  When we walk into the house, she is waiting at the door for us and greets us with a leg rub.  She's a wonderful pet, a great "little sister" to our daughter and is a fantastic addition to our family.

 Nika Scarelli

                    Danika in the shelter shortly after she was found.               Danika in her temporary foster home ... puppies are on the way!

                     Danika and her babies shortly after they were born.              Danika and her puppies on the day we met her for the first time.

       Puppies growing in leaps and bounds!                        Beautiful Danika ... finally in her new home!!

Jason and Kristina did not adopt their new "baby girl" from the Dearborn Animal Shelter, but they are so joyful to have her, they deserve mention here. 

In an email on 7/27/07 Jason and Kristina write:

  We'd like you to meet our new "baby girl".  Her name is Danika Kanuuk and we call her "Nika".  We adopted her in late June from Northern Lights Sled Dog Rescue in Indianapolis, but she wasn't to come home until July 20th after her litter of seven pups were born.  :-)

  She is the perfect dog and seems to love her new home and her new family, even her "kitty brothers"!  We love her very much!! Enjoy the photos!
 

Scout Glavanovich

Maria Glavanovich of Dearborn adopted a puppy, whom she named Scout, in June.  Below is her "Happy Tail" email.

Scout is a male dog I adopted from the shelter on June 14, 2007.  His shelter name was "Friendly."  He is now 5 months old.  He is a wonderful puppy with an excellent temperament.  He loves his twice daily walks and going to puppy class with me and his Grandma!! each week to see his new friends.  He has an endless supply of love and affection.  

Scout likes to wake-up slowly, get a nice long belly rub, and play with any toy which squeaks before we head out on our morning walk.  Every time I leave the house I can't wait to get home to see his happy face when I return.  I should have adopted a long time ago as he's added so much to my life.

People say I did a nice thing with adopting Scout and potentially 'saving' him, but I think he saved me.

Gabbi Kovacs

In an email dated July 16, 2007 Jan Kovacs of Allen Park sent us photos of 2 year old Gabbi.  Jan adopted Gabbi, named Twirl at the shelter, on June 30, 2007. Jan wrote that Gabbi loves rope knot toys.   "My other beagle Nikki and her are still getting to know each other.  They chase each other in the yard and Gabbi is the real leader when we are out on our nightly walk."

Scout Smith

Charlotte Smith of Dearborn adopted Norman from the shelter in May of 2004.  She promptly gave him the name Scout.  In an email from July 12, 2007 she wrote:

This is a Happy Tail from Scout, the wonder dog.  He was named after the main character in To Kill A Mockingbird because he is inquisitive just like she was (yes, he's a male, but the name just fit).  Keep up the great work!  He is a wonderful addition to the family... 

I am so happy in my new home!  I have a sister dog and sister cat (the cat is a bit skiddish around me, but I just want to play!).  2 humans share my house with me and love me to pieces!  They always make sure that I have great food, plenty of playtime and a nice comfy bed to sleep on.  I even stopped being so aggressive with food because I know I’ll always be fed.  I think these humans (and that darn feline) think that I don’t rule the house, but I really do.  It’s been a few years since I’ve been adopted and I meant to share my Happy Tail earlier but I just now figured out how to use this computer.  The other dog snapped a picture for me when the humans weren’t home.  Car rides and naps are my favorite thing to do.  I enjoy a walk around the neighborhood and must bark at every dog just to let them know that I am out of the pound.  I also make sure that I warn the humans when other dogs…and cats and birds and rabbits and other humans… walk past.  Some of my pet peeves are Pizza Delivery people coming to the door.  I must have had some issues with pizza when I was a baby because I just don’t want them on the porch!  I’ll even stop the humans from opening the door!  They have to catch the delivery people in the driveway.  It’s neat that everyone thinks I’m such a handsome guy!  After I get my bath (I keep hopping in the tub so the humans finally got the clue that I love water) I love to just shake and shake.  No towels needed!  The humans keep saying that I’m a great dog and they are really happy they visited the Dearborn Animal Shelter.  They had originally gone to get a different dog but ended up falling for me.  Little do they know that I picked them out and told the other dog to scram!  It’s great to be loved.  One human thought so much of the Shelter that she is a volunteer.  I really get aggravated when she comes home with another dog’s scent but I do understand that they need help, just like I did so I don’t stay mad at her for long.  After all, I want all my canine friends to be the ruler of a house of their very own!

Phineas formerly Kodiak

In May of 2007 this lucky pup was adopted by a wonderful couple in Ferndale.  They say his favorite activities are napping and giving 'high-fives'.  They included the following in their Happy Tail:

Phineas, formerly Kodiak, is delightful.  He is very well-mannered, odd, and cat-like.  He is deaf, so we are teaching him some sign language--he is doing particularly well with "biscuit" and "high five."  Phineas loves to "check e-mail" (walk across the computer keyboard while you are working), snore, and rub his mustache out of his eyes.

Unfortunately, his 'kennel cough' never cleared up, so we are now exploring other respiratory problems that might have developed or been exacerbated.  He is becoming a real pro at going to the vet, and is very popular with the techs.  Currently, he is doing well on low doses of cough suppressants, which will hopefully reduce the irritation in his throat and lead to less coughing overall.  We worry about his health, but never regret adopting him -- he is perfect for us, and has adjusted wonderfully.

Hope you enjoy his 'before' and 'after' pictures -- who knew he was so handsome under all that hair?

Before

    After

Dozer Peterson Tribute

To our "friends" at the Dearborn Animal Shelter,

  Our beloved Dozer passed away on Monday, June 11 (He

 was Chaucer at the animal shelter and we adopted him March 2000).  His

 passing was sudden for us and the vet at the emergency facility is not

 certain what caused his death.  When I think of how wonderful Dozer was, and

 how blessed we were that he came home to us, I can't help but think of the

 Dearborn Animal Shelter.

He is missed terribly.  Everyone who knew Dozer knows that he was a terrific

and loving dog.  He was welcome in many homes because he was such a good

dog.

Sincerely,

The Peterson Family

Troy, Jen, Nolan and Motts the Cat 

Beverly Hills, MI

Click here to see Dozer's Happy Tail from 2004

Zena R.

  From an email dated June 19, 2007:

Remember Zena? She was adopted from you by an Ohio family in November and now weighs 42 pounds! She is an awesome dog and is training well. She loves her home and her family and especially her brother Duncan, the 125 pound Old English Sheepdog/Wolfhound mix... They play together all day long--playing tug of war and "play fighting", etc. Thank you! We love her! (Please see attached photo from May '07).

Deb & Robin

Dylan formerly Moonlight

John and Barb sent in an email on June 15, 2007 to give us an update on Dylan.

Just wanted to give you an update on Dylan (Moonlight). We adopted him on Oct 11th and he is our pride and joy! He doing great and is such a loving dog and so smart. He has quite a sense of humor too.

Attached is a picture of him. We thank you for all you do.