A local dog shelter exclusively for furry friends over the age of 7 received dozens of senior dogs this week in the hopes of finding them permanent homes.
Muttville, in San Francisco’s Mission District, has been partnering older dogs with adoptees for 16 years and said last year they found 1,093 dogs new homes.
This year, they are anticipating surpassing that with over 1,200 matches.
Muttville’s latest goal is to bring together 100 dogs with new homes over 10 days.
“A lot of people surrender dogs around the holidays. And we’re still dealing with what happened in COVID when a lot of people rescued dogs and then once they went back to work or couldn’t afford the medical care, they didn’t have any choice but to surrender their dogs,” said Kelly Ferris, the shelter’s principal gift officer.
“We are really stepping up because we know this time of year is tough and we want every senior dog that is adoptable to be able to come to Muttville and have that chance and say they got that ‘golden ticket’ to be adopted and loved,” she added.
The dogs came from all over California’s shelters, but over half come from Fresno County and Oakland shelters.
“This holiday season our animal shelters are overflowing with loving dogs facing euthanasia. … With the help from our dog-loving community, these at-risk dogs will have warm and loving homes for the holidays.” Sherri Franklin, Muttville founder
Patty Stanton, public relations director for the shelter, said that the COVID pandemic changed the way they navigated adoptions, even allowing for potential owners to meet dogs via Zoom.
As dogs arrive at the shelter, they meet with veterinarians at the clinic and will also have dental work done, which Stanton said is one of their larger expenses.
The shelter has about 400 volunteers working in many areas from administration to veterinarians.
Generally, dogs will stay at the shelter for about three weeks as they vet potential owners and match dogs with people who share their personalities or are seen as compatible.
“This holiday season our animal shelters are overflowing with loving dogs facing euthanasia. At Muttville, we’ve decided to bring in 50 extra dogs weekly from these shelters,” founder Sherri Franklin said. “With the help from our dog-loving community, these at-risk dogs will have warm and loving homes for the holidays.”
The shelter said adoptions take place on Saturdays, but appointments can be made to meet the needs of those seeking to adopt.