A senior rescue dog is gearing up for his fourth straight Christmas at the shelter.
On December 25, while countless dogs across America celebrate the holidays with their families and owners, Enzo the 7-year-old Labrador mix will be spending another Christmas at Save-A-Pet Rescue in Port Jefferson Station, New York.
Enzo was originally one of Save-A-Pet Rescue’s success stories, having been adopted from the shelter as a young dog. Unfortunately, his time at what he thought would be his forever home was cut short.
Dori Scofield, the president of Save-A-Pet Rescue, told Newsweek: “He was returned because the owner became wheelchair bound and Enzo became too much for him to handle. He was a lot younger and stronger then.”
Four years on and despite mellowing out in his old age, Enzo is still at the shelter.
Senior dogs like Enzo can often struggle to find a new home. In 2015, Priceonomics conducted a study looking at adoption rates on the website Petfinder.
The results showed that while 95 percent of puppies on the site ended up finding new homes, only 68 percent of senior dogs were adopted.
On the face of it, Enzo has all of the qualities to make him an attractive option to anyone looking to avoid the stress and workload that comes with caring for a puppy. “We have had him professionally trained and he’s awesome,” Scofield said.
Despite this, she said that Enzo has attracted “zero” interest from people visiting the shelter. Scofield has an idea of why this is. “It’s because he doesn’t like other animals and so many people have other pets,” she said.
Enzo’s situation is one that has left her and other staff at the shelter deflated.
“We are all feeling so defeated because so many dogs don’t like other animals but finding him a home has been next to impossible for some odd reason,” she said. “We even had coasters made with his photo and info that we distributed at local restaurants.”
Though they have yet to be contacted, Scofield knows Enzo and knows exactly what he needs from any new owner or forever home. “He’s a couch potato, but loves going for walks, loves to play fetch and just needs a loving home with a fenced yard,” she said. “There has to be someone out there but we can’t seem to find them!”
But while Enzo may be facing Christmas and a lot longer besides at the shelter, at the very least, there will always be a place for him there. “If he doesn’t find a home, he will spend his life at our shelter,” Scofield said.
Even so, both she and everyone else at Save-A-Pet Rescue is hoping that 2024 will see Enzo receive the greatest gift of all.
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This story was originally published December 7, 2023, 10:23 AM.
source: star-telegram
