Veterinarian emerges as savior for aging dog who was spending her last days at a shelter
While puppies up for adoption are highly likely to attract pet parents, canines who have surpassed a certain age and may have health complications don't get the same attention. A pit bull mix named Netty faced the same fate when she arrived at a Philadelphia shelter in 2010, and even though she was adopted within three days, the family returned her to the same shelter after a decade. They requested the shelter staff to put down the 15-year-old canine because she was having difficulty adjusting with the family. But just when the end was near, Netty got a new shot at life.
According to The Washington Post, Netty remained at the Pennsylvania SPCA after "She was returned with a requested euthanasia," as per Maddie Bernstein, manager of lifesaving at the shelter. "She was old and having some incontinence difficulties in the house," Bernstein added before mentioning that her previous owners weren't "interested in discussing other options like medication for her." The vet team at the shelter did a thorough check-up of Netty and discovered that she had a "lot more life left to live."
"They felt like she still had a quality of life," Bernstein explained to the outlet. "They started her on meds, and she did well. She was starting to improve." The shelter actively started searching for someone who could adopt the senior dog even though it was a challenging task. "Older dogs normally don't get a lot of traction for adoption," Bernstein further added but the Pennsylvania SPCA was determined to find her a home and they turned to posting about Netty on social media.
"We hate to break your hearts, again, but here we are," the team wrote in a Facebook post. "This old gal is sitting in a shelter in what could be her final days. We don't want that for her. So, we are looking for a home where she can spend whatever time she has left. Netty is very low maintenance and could live with dogs, cats and respectful kids." The post gradually gained traction and netizens flooded the comment section inquiring about Netty. That's when Amy Kidd, a veterinarian in West Chester, Pennsylvania, came across the post just months after losing her beloved 12-year-old rescue dog Monty to cancer.
"As soon as I saw her face, I was like okay, she's the one that needs to come to my house," Kidd revealed to the outlet, mentioning how she also had six senior dogs between the ages of 12 and 16 back at home. Kidd and her husband have been providing shelter to aged dogs for almost a decade now and most of them were considered as "hospice dogs" who had low life expectancy. "When they get to our house, it's kind of a fountain of youth," Kidd shared, explaining how the elderly dogs staying under her roof managed to live more years than they were expected to live. "We try to do what's best for them, as long as we possibly can," she explained. "We plan to only take senior pets into our family, or animals that have problems, need medication and extra care."
Kidd also owns the Popcopson Veterinary Station in West Chester and she was at work when her daughter and two sons drove about 40 miles from their home to pick up Netty. They also brought along their two senior other dogs to make Netty comfortable. "It was time to meet her, and I saw her walk down the hallway," said Emilea Suplick, Kidd's daughter, who works as a veterinary technician at her mother's clinic. "She sniffed me and gave me a little bit of a tail wag. She knew she was home." "She's kind of a stubborn girl, and it's pretty funny because she's supposed to be this old lady that can't walk," Kidd continued. "She is officially the queen bee of the house. I have a feeling she's going to be around for quite a bit."