Before they became yours, how long was your pet waiting to find home? Maybe it was just days, or a few weeks, or maybe it was months that they spent hoping to be noticed. In some rarer instances, animals end up waiting for a year or more for someone to give them a chance. Birdie, the sweetest little tugboat (with the most incredible ears), waited for an unbelievable 6 years before she was seen and adopted.
This is sweet Bird’s story, as told to us by her person, Jessica.
How did you end up seeing Birdie for the first time? I was obsessively trolling Petfinder, looking for our very first dog. Then one night I stumbled on Birdie’s profile and I knew she was special. I called my husband in to see her and he said “Get that Bird!”
What was it that grabbed your attention about her? Her name and her photo jumped out at me. Birdie had big ears and the photo was taken at a great angle, so her ears were hanging back in the air like Dumbo. That’s what made me click on her profile. And her write-up was amazing! It told me exactly what I wanted to know about her personality and what kind of home she was looking for. There were additional photos of her in her foster home around other animals and she just looked like a great fit. My husband and I were both really excited to meet her!
How did she become yours? That night I reached out to the rescue group and filled out an application, then I talked to her foster mom. The next week we drove two hours to adopt Birdie…without ever having met her in person. That’s how good her photos and bio were (and how great the foster mom was for answering my many questions!). I’ll never forget seeing Birdie for the first time, walking into our meeting spot, and recognizing her from her photos thinking: “That’s our dog!”
What do you want people to know about Birdie? Birdie was literally the perfect dog. She was gentle with our 3 cats, a perfect friend to our other dog (who we adopted a few months later), great with little kids, and the easiest dog imaginable. She even came to us housetrained. All of this was shocking because she’d spent the first 6 YEARS of her life in an outdoor shelter. Birdie was living proof that there are amazing dogs in shelters and rescues, who may not have gotten a great start in life, but who are terrific family dogs. She was such a good girl. Birdie brought so much love into our home. She passed away 4 years ago, after spending 9 years with us, and we miss her and her ears like crazy.
Pets as perfect as Birdie are waiting in shelters and rescues in your community and beyond, but none of them should have to wait 6 years for their new life to start. HeARTs Speak is dedicated to providing the tools, partnerships, and training that supplement the lifesaving work of animal welfare organizations, getting pets seen and noticed faster. Learn more
