Petfinder Post: October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month

This web site knows, of course, that most of its readers already live with as many animals as they feel able to keep. This is understandable. What this web site asks readers who already live with dogs (and/or cats) to do is to share Petfinder adoptable dog (and cat) photos--ours, or pick your own--and help us Picture Them Homes. 

Here are three cats and three dogs. Although their pictures win this week's photo contest they are unfortunately only a few of dozens of adoptable pets in their metropoles, or metropolises. If you visit the shelters or foster homes you're quite likely to find other animals even more adorable in real life. This web site encourages appreciation of the lovable qualities of homeless animals.

Zipcode 10101: Sunkist from NYC

His web page: https://www.petfinder.com/cat/sunkist-77625444/ny/new-york/anjellicle-cats-rescue-ny488/

Just another repeat of the same old story: Somebody didn't care enough to have an adult cat sterilized, didn't care enough to rear the kittens. Sunkist and three siblings can be adopted in pairs, or separately as companions for other young cats. They are described as typical kittens. Eat, play, sleep, and they especially like to be picked up and petted. They have been in a "foster home" with other cats and got along well with those cats. 

Zipcode 20202: Dolly Parton from South Carolina via DC

Her web page: https://www.petfinder.com/cat/dolly-parton-78764114/dc/washington/final-victory-animal-rescue-sc497/

This senior cat has spent too much time in a shelter where the staff couldn't bear to kill her, but nobody adopted her, either. They warn that she may seem wary...but admit it: she's adorable.

Zipcode 30303: Jammy from Atlanta 

His web page: https://www.petfinder.com/cat/jammy-78071501/ga/atlanta/southern-animal-rescue-ga653/

Maine Coon cats are valuable--the closest most of us will ever get to knowing a Norwegian Forest cat, majestic long-haired animals who often grow close to their ancestral twenty- or thirty-healthy-pound size. They start out as normal-looking kittens and fairly normal-looking young cats, except that between the ages of two and five some of them keep on growing. They are said to be loyal and intelligent, and good hunters. 

Nevertheless, whether because he's not purebred or because somebody just realized per house didn't have room for more cats, Jammy was dumped out at a shelter. Handsome, fluffy, and described as being a purr-box more than having one, he buddied up with another abandoned kitten called Percy. Though not physically related, they consider themselves brothers and must be adopted together.

Zipcode 10101: Kania from Florida and/or NYC

Her web page: https://www.petfinder.com/dog/kania-78820109/ny/new-york/stray-from-the-heart-ny245/

Remember the Queen of England with her pack of corgis? Kania is part spaniel and part corgi. She weighs thirteen pounds and has probably reached her full adult size. She wants to be somebody's spoiled only pet. 

Zipcode 20202: Esther from Texas by way of DC 

Her web page: https://www.petfinder.com/dog/esther-78813562/dc/washington/gracies-project-tx2503/

Some horrid person dumped a litter of puppies out beside the road because they had a contagious disease. Some people do that. Sometimes if treated humanely but firmly they can become decent human beings. Sometimes it's not that they hate local people and their dogs enough to want to spread diseases, but simply that they took in a stray dog and, when her pups became ill, they panicked. Sometimes they didn't even take in the dog; she might have been a stray who latched on to the nearest available human when she saw that her pups were ill.

Anyway that was last spring. Esther survived. She's certified free of parvovirus, which was what the puppies had when they were dumped, and several other dog diseases. She has run up a substantial vet bill, but when you consider how much veterinary care she's had, and needed, and also that they expect to have to transport her from Texas to Washington, her outrageous "adoption fee" seems less unreasonable. 

She is mostly police dog and, though not very big, will have a big appetite, a lot of energy, and a tendency to intimidate people even if well trained. 

Zipcode 30303: Aspen from Atlanta 

His web page: https://www.petfinder.com/dog/aspen-78679334/ga/atlanta/carolina-german-shepherd-rescue-sc425/

German Shepherd rescue? Right. Aspen is one of a litter of cute, fluffy little puppies who are thought to have had one German Shepherd grandparent. Their mother was smaller and fluffier than a proper "Shep" and their father was a Shih Tzu, a lapdog. They are still likely to weigh 30 or 40 pounds when grown up. They may have long hair, and the shelter staff want you to promise that they can be indoor pets. All of the puppies are described as healthy, friendly, cheerful and social. The whole "A team" of puppies look especially adorable; Aspen was picked as the one who shows most evidence of the potential to become more watchdog than lapdog.