Cleveland, OHBy Jo Donofrio
When a young, pregnant, and scared female Shepherd mix was picked up as a stray on January 5th in Cleveland and brought to Cleveland Animal Control and Care (CACC), the staff knew it wouldn’t be long before her puppies would arrive. The next day she gave birth to four beautiful puppies.
According to Ed Jamison, Chief Animal Control Officer at Cleveland Animal Control and Care (CACC), it’s not unusual for strays to be pregnant and give birth in a shelter. “Many pregnant strays are brought into CACC,” explains Jamison. “With the help of our rescue partners, we try to move them out to foster homes before they give birth but, as in this case, there isn’t always time.”
A city kennel is not the best place for a nursing mom and her puppies so Cleveland Animal Control Volunteers went to work and reached out on their Facebook page asking for a rescue organization and a willing foster to move this mom and her pups out of CACC as soon as possible.
“I regularly follow the Cleveland Animal Control Volunteer page and saw that this young mom, now named Sweet Tea, and her puppies needed a foster home as soon as possible,” said Mary Jo who with her husband Kip have been fostering dogs since 2010. “I immediately contacted Becca Riker of Secondhand Mutts Rescue (SHM) and told her we were willing to foster them until the puppies were old enough to be adopted.” Becca, President of the Tremont-based rescue organization, responded quickly to Mary Jo’s request. “Mary Jo is an experienced foster and has fostered puppies for us before. When she called inquiring about Sweet Tea and her puppies, we knew we had to help.” SHM contacted CACC and, two days later, Sweet Tea and her pups were safe in their new foster home.
“CACC is not a facility conducive to providing the ongoing care that this young family needed,” explains Jamison. “We were pleased that they left CACC so quickly, and are grateful to our rescue partners, like Second Hand Mutts, who step up with the help of fosters to provide a positive solution.”
There are many challenges and rewards to fostering a mom and her puppies, especially when the family is so young. Sweet Tea’s pups arrived with their eyes and ears still closed and were just beginning to discover their world. “Puppies are adorable but they are a lot of work and require a lot of attention,” explains Mary Jo, who knows the importance of the pups growing up healthy and socialized. But it is worth all the effort.” The wonderful feeling you get when they leave to go to their forever homes and live their lives as cherished family pets is like no other feeling in the world.”
According to Becca Riker, Sweet Tea and her pups are doing great. “By providing the mother dog, Sweet Tea, and her puppies with an experienced foster home and family to take care of them, we are confident the puppies are getting the proper care and socialization they will need before moving into their forever homes. Having secure, committed foster homes allows us to continue pulling dogs from our city shelter where they desperately need rescues to step in and find homes for dogs who are otherwise overlooked.”
Sweet Tea and her four puppies, three boys and a girl, were available for adoption through Second Hand Mutts when the pups were eight-weeks old. All of the family was fully vetted, wormed, vaccinated, microchipped and spayed or neutered prior to adoption.
All four of the puppies have been adopted but Sweet Tea is still waiting for her forever home. If you’re interested in more information or in applying to adopt Sweet Tea, call (216) 664-9660 or email rescue@secondhandmutts.org to set up an appointment.
About Cleveland Animal Control and Care
The City of Cleveland Division of Animal Care and Control is an open admission shelter that provides 24 hour a day animal control services to Cleveland residents. The kennel itself is open to the public Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sundays 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. For more information you may contact Chief Ed Jamison at: 216-664-3069 or ejamison@city.cleveland.oh.us
Dogs currently available for adoption can be viewed at http://www.petango.com/Forms/ShelterAnimals.aspx?s=1&sh=4670&z=44145
About Second Hand Mutts
Founded in 2006 by Becca Riker, a local animal advocate in Cleveland, Secondhand Mutts Rescue (SMH) is located in Tremont and has placed over 1500 dogs in forever homes. Many of the Secondhand Mutt dogs are pulled from high-kill or at-risk city and county shelters. Their mission is ‘respect the dog’ by providing each dog with every resource possible to ensure they find loving forever homes and a fresh start. Because Secondhand Mutts operates out of a cage-free environment dogs of all ages are socialized together, and each dog is evaluated before being admitted into the program.
