Martin is an elderly dog who needed to find a good home after his previous family turned him over to the Wake County SPCA. The sweet dog was about 10 years old when he arrived at the shelter. His adoptive father loved him very much, but he had become an old man and could no longer take care of the dog.
Martin’s father took the elderly dog to the shelter, hoping they could help Martin find a new home where he could live out his golden years surrounded by love and comfort.
Samantha Ranlet, marketing communications specialist for the SPCA, told The Dodo:
“His [father] was 89 and reached a point where he couldn’t give him the life he felt Martin deserved. He wanted a better life for him.”
Senior dog with ‘teddy bear face’ returned to shelter 7 times
Samantha says:
“It was going pretty well. I don’t know if he understood what was going on, but from day one he was a happy, calm, very sweet old dog with a teddy bear face. He continued to be overlooked again and again. In two months, seven adoptions failed for various reasons.”
Due to Martin’s age, finding a suitable home for him proved more difficult than expected. But her age wasn’t the only factor affecting her adoption process. The elderly dog tested positive for heartworm, which scared off potential adopters.
So after the last adoption attempt, the SPCA staff decided to do something different to help Martin.
Samantha says:
“We got to a point where we thought, ‘We need to use the internet to ask our community to help us share it and bring it into a home.'”
They shared a Facebook post outlining Martin’s whole story, along with two photos of his adorable teddy bear face, to get some much-needed attention.
The volunteer adds:
“[Posting to Facebook] made all the difference. Thousands of people shared his message and all of a sudden people were reaching out to us by phone, email, etc.”
Within 48 hours, the post with Martin’s story went viral and adoption applications for the senior dog were completely exhausted. One of the requests that came to the rescue center’s attention was from a couple who had experience caring for senior dogs.
Samantha says:
“They weren’t afraid of his age and they weren’t afraid that he had heartworm disease. They just fell in love with him and his teddy bear energy.”
The couple took Martin to their home, where he has been staying for a few weeks. His adoption process is not yet complete, as he continues to receive heartworm treatment at the SPCA on weekends.
Samantha assures:
“As soon as he finishes his treatment, they will formalize the adoption. He still has a month or two ahead of him.”
Martin is the only dog in his new home, but he shares his space with his feline sister named Hilltop. Although Martin is missed by SPCA staff, they are very happy that he has finally found the perfect home and hope his story inspires people to consider adopting their senior dogs.
Finally, Samantha said:
“It’s good to pay more attention to older dogs. It helps to remind people that they are also worth adopting.”
Images: Facebook / SPCA of Wake County
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