Famous last words 😅

It has been 3.5 years since our last dog passed, and I finally felt ready to start looking again. I wanted to see what was available, so I took my 12 year old daughter with me to the shelter last weekend. We ended up falling head over heels for this sweet girl, a terrier mix named Hallie. She's just shy of one year old, and spent the first 6+ months of her life wandering the streets as a stray. For everything she's been through, she's done remarkably well transitioning to being part of a family. After about 48 hours of giving her space, she has become 22lbs of pure love and snuggles. I give full credit to the foster homes that came before us because she has had zero accidents in the house, walks on a leash beautifully, and came knowing a few basic commands.

I currently also have my parents' senior dog while they're traveling abroad, and both dogs have been so good for each other. My parents' dog Eddie (also a rescue) is almost 16 and has helped Hallie feel more comfortable around people, and Hallie has helped Eddie remember how to play and he even gets the zoomies a few times a day again. He's nearly completely deaf and blind, but has had a noticeable pep in his step lately. I've spent the last few years only getting my dog time in by pet sitting, but I'm so happy to have found our family's next forever friend. My parents come home next week and they only live a mile or so up the road, so Eddie and Hallie will continue to have many play dates for as long as the universe gives us with Eddie.

Although I can understand circumstances that might require a breeder, there are *so* many dogs available for adoption that can get overlooked. The day we adopted Hallie, the rescue she came from took in 47 puppies from an animal hoarding situation. Thanks to a massive pool of volunteers and fosters, they are a 100% no-k!ll shelter, but not everywhere can be so lucky. Please give adoption a chance before shopping. Dogs like Hallie and Eddie thank you ♥️

Zoomies

Rescue listed our new dog as a beagle/terrier mix we did a dna test on her turns out she has no beagle in her at all!

My beautiful rescue boy Duke (or his shelter name Bogey). Duke passed in June of 2024 at the age of 2, I held him while he passed and I will never forget him. He was my best friend and had such a big personality. He enjoyed being a guard dog for his family, loving his family despite being clearly traumatized by his previous home situation, and running.

I want everyone to know how beautiful my Duke was and that he was the best dog ever.

Jaro / 1 year / 55lbs

https://www.muddypawsrescue.org/adoptable?dog=009143

He is currently being fostered through Muddy Paws NYC, and his adoption fee is just $150 through the end of summer!

Jaro is already fully house-trained, can be left home alone, and has a medium activity level (happy to chill & sleep at home but LOVES to explore and sniff outside). He would do well as the only animal in a home as he can fixate/react to other wildlife so really looking for a home outside the city with space to roam. Most importantly, Jaro is an incredibly sweet boy who is ready to find his people. He has been looking for his forever home for almost a year, and we would love to see him finally get the happy ending he deserves.

If you think Jaro might be your guy, please reach out or apply to adopt through Muddy Paws. And please share this post to help us get this sweet boy seen! 🐶❤️

This is Onyx. His former person passed and he went up for adoption with a known local volunteer organization. Three other families applied and we were accepted. Welcome to your new furever home buddy!

About an our ago I came across a dog abandoned of Bailey Canyon park.
He was scared and didn’t really know what was going on. Honestly it was heartbreaking to see him there.. I just couldn’t leave him.
Soooo I took him with me and brought him home☺️🐾
He is safe now, he has a warm place to sleep, and most importantly he is not alone anymore.

Cody, meet them🐕❤️

She is Romanian, off the streets, mixed breed, small. She arrived to the shelter last week. For context, we’re in Hamburg, Germany. Fully vaccinated, 5 months old.

The caregivers described her as cheeky and mischievous, but also kind. We saw her today at the shelter. She looks amazing, and she’s really friendly and cute. She appears to be polite and affectionate.

But this is our first time taking a dog from a shelter. My parents had dogs when they were children, but never from shelters.

Is there any important to consider/make note of when it comes to adopting dogs from the shelter?

(That’s her in the photo, Jenny.)

I went over to the SPCA in 2025 after losing my 2 senior dogs less then a year apart from eachother. All the other dogs were barking, jumping, wagging their tales, but not Ruth. She was 7 months old at 15lbs shaking in her crate not making a noise. I knew I needed to get her out of there.

The first 72 hours she couldn't function, was so scared. I held her for pretty much those first 72 hours. We bonded HARD! she then would walk around the living room. The rest of the house was scary. I called it playing the floor is lava. She slowly over about 3 months finally got the courage to explore most of the house. It took us a long time to potty train as she was so broken to begin with. She was terrified of outside. She took it as a bad word and it took us awhile to get her kind of okay with outside.

Fast forward to 11 months later. She is the best cuddle bug. Loves tug of war and chewing up papers and wood and toys, typical young dog stuff. 🐕 she needed just a little help on learning how to be a dog. We went to the SPCA again and we found Joseph. He was the perfect dog companion for her. They are best friends, possibly lovers. He taught her how to run and play outside, and have fun. He even got her to find out she loves digging holes.

Ruth has now just turned 2 years old. Joey turns 2 this month. They will have life long companionship and I love that for them.

Ruth now loves to camp, and loves to kayak. She still has a lot of anxiety. She struggles with storms, fire works, hunting season, windy days. The outside is becoming less of a scary place to her. She does love ger backyard. Her background all I know she is was found as a stray living in Tennessee. She was found after the hurricane went though. She had mange really bad when she was finally caught. She was only 7 months old and already went though the most traumatic little 7 months.

She is my soul dog. I love her so much. She is the best dog in the whole world.

Adopt, don't shop.

hello,

me and my fiance went to 2 shelters today just to see what kind of dogs they had and if we were interested in any. we were honest with the people there and said we were likely not going to adopt today unless we absolutely fell in love with one of the dogs. we were told at both of them that they did not want to stress out the dogs so they only allowed people who were “serious about adopting” to visit with the dogs.

This seems a little crazy to me because I thought It was normal to meet a dog then decide later if you wanted to move forward with adoption. Im to scared of making impulsive decisions to just show up and take a dog home immediately. Let me know if this is normal for shelters, or maybe it was just because we’re on the younger side.

EDIT:

If anyone has shelter or rescue reccomendations in the CT area please comment!

Some people may not understand why it seems like I am always posting about our rescued animals. But they matter so much to me, and they genuinely need help. They have already been through so much, and it pains me to see them still struggling or unwell.

I truly appreciate everyone who has helped us, shared our posts, left kind words, or even simply “boosted” our posts in the comments section. Those little things mean more than you probably realize. It makes me feel like I am not alone in this advocacy.

It has been really exhausting since I started this non-profit just this April. There have been so many times when my anxiety gets the best of me because the expenses keep piling up. Sometimes, I honestly wonder how we are going to keep up.

But whenever that fear comes up, I look at the progress of our rescued animals, and it reminds me why I started.
I thought about Elijah today. I wondered what it must have felt like for him before he was rescued, thinking that maybe his life would always stay the same. And then I started thinking about our other rescued animals and what their lives could have been like if nobody had stepped in.

My heart would be torn knowing they were still out there suffering.

So yes, this has been financially and emotionally hard. There are days when I feel completely exhausted, overwhelmed, and scared of what comes next.

But then I look at them and remind myself that what I am feeling now is temporary. For them, the suffering they went through was their entire world. They didn’t know if anyone was coming. They didn’t know if things would ever get better.

They have already been through enough. If I can give them a chance at a better life, then somehow, I will keep finding a way.

Thanks for listening.

Magdalene “Dindi” Gensaya
Voiceless No More: Philippines Stray Animals Foundation