Several weeks ago we had two beagles brought in to the shelter, together, from the White Settlement Road, male and female — beautiful dogs, friendly, in great condition other than exhausted, as it appeared they had been running for a long time.
Shelter staff went into action, making phone calls, trying to determine the owner or owners of these dogs, not just checking local vets but also going up and down the road checking with people in the neighborhood, stopping by the Amish to see if perhaps they were missing these dogs, posting on Facebook and every other conceivable attempt to find the owners.
Ninety thousand Facebook hits, numerous shares, lots of great ideas and suggestions, all followed up with, and nothing. We even checked the Canadian Shelters to see if someone in our neighboring towns had reported these dogs missing.
We don’t know if perhaps they were abandoned, or if hunters lost them during a hunt, which makes no sense given the time of year they were found, or if someone traveling through the area lost them and just didn’t know how to report their loss to the local authorities, but the bottom line is, no owners have ever been found for these dogs.
It amazes me that sometimes we get more than one response and an argument over ownership with two families claiming “This is my dog” or “That was my cat,” and then there is a huge and public battle while the shelter just does the best we can to weed through the paperwork, stories, email threads and records to make sure the animal goes back to the rightful owner. And yet, there are hundreds that come in that nobody claims.
Once we exhaust all efforts to find the owners we then spay and neuter and adopt. And yes, the male has found his forever home at this point and we are thrilled to see him finally be able to curl up in someone’s lap at night and relax.
Beagles are an awesome breed — sweet disposition, gentle nature and very smart — but you really need to understand the breed, and the shelter staff are very careful on every single adoption to place an animal with an owner who understands the breed. You don’t adopt a beagle into a home with an apartment-bound person. You place a beagle in a situation where he can get a lot of exercise, where the owner understands the dog’s need to “follow his nose,” and is aware that many beagles, if given half a chance, will eat themselves into oblivion, so you must be careful about feeding schedules, amounts and types of food.
At Houlton Humane it isn’t “first come first serve” when we have an animal available for adoption, it’s what’s the best match for the animal and the family. So if you are the first one to put in an application for critter A and you see on Facebook that critter A went to a different family, don’t be offended. It wasn’t that you weren’t a good candidate, it’s that this particular animal just wasn’t the right match for you at this time. We appreciate those who understand that and are patient as we work to find just the right companion for you and just the right home for Rover.
Thank you for your continuing support of Houlton Humane and ALL animal rescue organizations.
