It took 11 years of ready and a 700 mile journey for a canine named Fergie to search out her endlessly household, however now, on the age of 13, she’s lastly home.
The brown, mixed-breed pup was born a stray in Alabama. She lived her first two years of life wild and on the run, and had zero human interplay till she was trapped by animal management.
Fergie spent the next 11 years in a kennel at Second Chance Shelter in Boazthe place, resulting from her shyness, she was missed time and time once more.
Her luck solely modified final month, when phrase of her scenario reached a foster-based rescue that takes in senior, hospice, and particular wants dogs in Wisconsin.
When Lindsey Decker, vice chairman of Albert’s Dog Lounge, first discovered about Fergie from Second Chance Shelter’s associate in Wisconsin, she was surprised that the 13-year-old canine had spent practically her whole life within the overcrowded shelter. Stunned, however not shocked.
Decker stated that there are many different senior dogs within the “exact same boat” as Fergie within the South, noting that “her story is not rare. It’s common… most folks just don’t know about it.”
According to Decker, “super seniors” like Fergie are sometimes missed at shelters and are on the highest danger to be euthanized. While Second Chance Shelter doesn’t euthanize dogs resulting from old age, it was additionally no place for her to spend the remainder of her days.
“I stated ‘she can come to my house,” Decker recalled. “‘We need to get her out of there immediately.’”
WMTV, an area NBC affiliate, was there when Fergie arrived in Wisconsin on March 23. In addition to a news segmentFergie additionally acquired a brand new title: Fiona.
The plan was for Fiona to stick with Decker till she finds a endlessly home.
“I knew that there was a possibility she was just going to be my dog if she was unable to acclimate to life,” she recalled. “She was just going to be my dog. And I was ready for that.”
But that wasn’t the case. Not solely did Fiona transition effectively, however her story went viral, and by April 5, she had discovered the proper home.
Carrie and Mike Saskowski had already adopted two dogs by means of Albert’s Dog Lounge once they fell in love with Fiona. Decker described their home within the suburbs of Milwaukee as a “brilliant little retirement community for canines” with 4 different senior dogs for Fiona to hang around with and a giant fenced in yard, which is nice, as a result of “she absolutely has no concept of what a leash is.”
“I wanted her to experience her last days of life running freely in a yard without learning a new skill set,” Decker defined. “I wanted her to go to a home where there were other dogs and there are four other super seniors in the household. [Fiona] needed that companionship… So I got everything on my checklist.”
Decker, who receives day by day updates from the Saskowskis, stated and that Fiona is flourishing in her new home, the place she enjoys lounging on the sofa and “prancing” round her new yard.
Lindsey Decker
“The dog that you see in the kennel is capable of being a different dog. She just needed to get out of there,” she stated. “If someone had given her a chance 10 years ago, who knows what she’d look like now. I’m just happy to be a part of this puzzle in her retirement years. It just fills my cup.”
Albert’s Dog Lounge will proceed to tug dogs from Second Chance Shelter on a month-to-month foundation. Two dogs are scheduled to be transported to Wisconsin in May, and Fiona’s kennelmate, Chip, is up subsequent.
