‘Friendly’ and ‘playful’ dog keeps being overlooked at Florida shelter. ‘Heartbreaking’
A “friendly” dog keeps being overlooked, leaving a Florida shelter manager crushed.
“We pitch her to adopters all the time, but she consistently gets passed over when they hear that she’s 9 years old,” Tom Baumann wrote Aug. 6 on Facebook. “Oftentimes people won’t even take a few minutes to meet her. We get it, but it’s also heartbreaking, because she’s got the spirit and disposition of a dog half her age and doesn’t even get the chance to show that off.”
Baumann, manager of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) of Brevard, believes Mandy the dog is being overlooked due to her age. She landed at the shelter in mid-June after being transferred from an overcrowded facility in Tallahassee, the SPCA wrote in online posts and an email to McClatchy News.
Now, almost two months later, Mandy still waits for a second chance. She has become known as a “playful and silly” dog who is a big fan of toys.
“Mandy is incredibly sweet, loves to cuddle, and is fantastic with children and other dogs,” Shelby Montgomery, public relations and community engagement coordinator for the shelter, wrote in an email. “Despite her age, she still enjoys playtime and being active but also appreciates cozying up on the couch.”
Mandy, a mixed breed dog, also is undergoing heartworm treatment. Photos shared online show she has white fur on much of her body and a black spot around her eye.
“I’ve been told my celebrity look-alike is Petey from Little Rascals, and I think that’s quite a compliment,” the SPCA said in an online adoption profile written from Mandy’s perspective. “All I really want is to relax with a loving family who will call me their own.”
As of Aug. 7, Mandy was still in need of a new owner. As the pup waits to be adopted, she’s often found in Baumann’s office.
“She spends most of the day either with her head in my lap or laying right under my desk so that she can feel included in my day,” Baumann wrote, adding that Mandy is a “near perfect pup that gets looked over day after day.”
The shelter is in Titusville, a roughly 40-mile drive east from Orlando. More details about the animal organization’s adoption process can be found at spcabrevard.com.
This story was originally published August 7, 2024 at 11:46 AM with the headline "‘Friendly’ and ‘playful’ dog keeps being overlooked at Florida shelter. ‘Heartbreaking’."
