When Victor Adame met Dr. Pepper, a Dutch shepherd mix, at the Spokane Humane Society (SHS) in January, the two couldn't keep their eyes off each other.
"I looked at him and he looked at me, and I immediately felt a connection," Victor recalls. He had been interested in adopting a different dog, but Dr. Pepper changed his mind. "I was intrigued because Dr. Pepper is actually my favorite soda. It was amazing, like it was meant to be."
Even more amazing is that after about 570 days at SHS, Dr. Pepper has found a forever home. He’s originally from Texas, where a rescue group saved him from an overcrowded shelter in 2021 and transported him to Spokane.
"In the eight years I've been here, this is the longest a dog was in our care," says Sheena Bryant, the SHS shelter manager. She thinks potential adopters may have overlooked Dr. Pepper due to his time spent at the shelter. "Many people will see an animal's intake date and wonder why they've been here so long."
More longtime residents of SHS will hopefully be just as lucky as Dr. Pepper, thanks to the shelter's "Home Free in 2023" promotion sponsored by a grant from VCA Charities. In addition to waived adoption fees, adopters of these dogs receive a package which includes three months of training and three months of pet food, all free of charge.
"It was an amazing surprise for Dr. Pepper's new dad to learn about the package he was going to be gifted with when he adopted his new buddy," Sheena says.
The promotion allows the shelter to feature some of its longest-term dogs in a positive way, says Briana Berner, SHS senior director of development. "Sometimes these dogs may have behavioral or medical issues, and these packages include relevant items that make them easier to adopt," she says. "They help break some of those barriers to adoption. We are incredibly grateful for VCA Charities’ support—and so is Dr. Pepper!"
Dr. Pepper himself had some behavioral issues when he first arrived at SHS, likely due to spending most of his life in a cage.
"He was like a teenager, wanting to push boundaries so he'd know the limits," Sheena explains. "If you didn't give him limits, he was mouthy. So our staff and volunteers worked with training tools and consistency, putting a lot of time and care into loving this dog like our own until he found his forever home."
Their efforts were successful. Briana, who met Dr. Pepper last summer, says she only knows him as a well-behaved dog. "He was a fun-loving sweetheart with a kind of soulful presence," she recalls. "It's such a cool success story to see him adopted now and as friendly and loving as he can be."
To help keep pets like Dr. Pepper healthy and in loving homes, VCA Charities provides grants and partnerships to animal shelters and animal welfare organizations. In addition, VCA partners with over 150 animal shelters and rescue organizations across the United States, providing medical and fundraising support.
"We just became official shelter partners with VCA this year, and they've been incredible in offering Healthy Start Certificates as part of that partnership," Briana says. Healthy Start Certificates provide adopters with a complimentary health exam at a VCA Animal Hospital and up to $250 off 14-day follow-up care for certain conditions. "We are definitely seeing people liking and using those certificates," Briana adds.
In addition to the Healthy Start Certificates, VCA provides care for SHS animals with medical needs.
"Often those needs are beyond our own on-site clinic's ability to handle," Briana says. "We’ve reached out to VCA, and they've been super quick and accommodating in helping us care for those animals.”
Felicia Singer, a regional operations director at VCA, is working with SHS officials to create additional opportunities to help pets. “We want to do mobile adoptions at one of our hospitals,” she says. Another possibility is having a spay day to help prevent pet overpopulation.
“Every time we think of an idea, we're able to work together and figure out how to make it happen,” Briana says. “Or anytime the VCA team has an idea, they reach out to us. It's a special, mutually beneficial relationship that we've felt blessed by.”
It’s important that people are aware these shelter partnerships exist and VCA wants to help, Felicia says. “Some people may think of VCA as a big corporation that’s out of touch, when we are really entrenched in communities and want to see all these pets find forever homes,” she explains.
Promotions like Home Free in 2023 also give SHS animals like Dr. Pepper a higher likelihood of finding owners who will put in the effort to make them perfect companion pets, Sheena notes.
After he adopted Dr. Pepper, Victor took him to VCA Manito Animal Hospital in Spokane for an exam. “He was a really nice dog and easy to handle,” says Dr. Susan Powell. “He had a fractured tooth but otherwise was in great health.”
This wasn’t the first time Hospital Manager Airiana Kelley had seen Dr. Pepper. “I initially met him at the shelter before he got adopted, and he was the sweetest,” she says. “He gave everyone kisses, wanted a belly rub and did tricks for everyone. And he was the same way here at the hospital.”
VCA Manito is a Fear Free Certified hospital, “so we try to make patients as comfortable as possible,” Airiana says. “Dr. Pepper didn’t need any of that. He had no fear and was very happy. His owner loves him so much, and so do we.”
Victor says one of the things he loves the most about Dr. Pepper is his good nature. “He’s one of the friendliest dogs I’ve ever met,” he says. He’s also impressed with Dr. Pepper’s versatility.
“He can be very energetic and then very calm, whatever you need him to be,” Victor explains. “He’ll burst out in what I call ‘play fests,’ and when he gets all that energy out of him, he becomes a couch potato. He’s got a PhD in being a really good boy.”
VCA is proud to partner with over 150 qualified animal shelters nationwide. Find a VCA shelter partner near you at our website and learn more about VCA Charities and its grant programs at VCACharities.org!
