Macomb Animal Control event connects people with pets – Macomb Daily

Jamie Green has a thing for senior dogs who reside in shelters in search of a permanent home.

“We adopted a 9 year old dog three years ago and he was a wonderful dog,” said Green. “We lost him this year on Halloween and we were just devastated.”

Green mourns the loss of her adorable Charlie, but has decided that she wants to give another senior dog a wonderful home – even if it turns out to be for a short time. After meeting some of the adoptable pets at Macomb County Animal Control‘s Home for the Holidays event, Green adopted 10-year-old Clint Eastwood.

“I’m so excited!” Green said. “I know a lot of people don’t want to adopt an older dog, but these are the best.”

For Saturday’s event, adoption fees were sponsored for the 13 dogs and two cats that were available to go to a permanent home. All of the dogs available for adoption weighed 40 pounds or more, which administrative coordinator Jullian Kane said can be a tough sell.

“They are big dogs and a lot of them are Pit Bull mixes,” Kane said. “They are not for everyone and I understand, but we are here to present a positive perception of the breed.”

A big gray Pit mix named Alexa rolls over onto her back to get her stomach massaged by a potential adopter, her tail wagging all the time. Kane cites the scene as an example of a typical Pit Bull personality.

“These are some of the cutest little hippos,” Kane said. “They are big dogs. People make dogs and that’s what it boils down to.

A tall black 5-year-old Bullmastiff mix named T-Bone drew a lot of attention at Saturday’s event. Although he weighs around 100 pounds, Macomb County animal control staff say T-Bone acts like a lap dog and is known as “a big teddy bear.”

T-Bone had two different parties interested in adopting him on Saturday morning, but in both cases, the “meeting and welcoming” with the potential adopters’ dogs did not go smoothly. One man had a little Yorkie / Chihuahua mix who was afraid of the T-Bone despite the big dog’s gentle character. T-Bone seemed to be a bit overwhelmed with his second encounter involving an extremely energetic and young Pit mix from a dog loving family. With the Big Bullmastiff being almost middle-aged, a dashing young dog might not be the best match.

Halfway through Saturday’s four-hour event, T-Bone sat quietly in his kennel, waiting for his special someone to find him.

“We always have a flare up or something like that around this time of year because we really want to welcome pets into a home before the holidays,” Kane said. “Unfortunately, we know that some people will have puppies at Christmas and we will have their elders.”

In addition to the Home for the Holidays event, Macomb County Animal Control hosted an orientation for 30 new volunteers at the shelter. Jennifer Biggers, who has volunteered at a shelter for two years, said she enjoys being able to walk the dogs, learn more about their personalities and help potential pets spend more time outdoors. She’s hoping Hero, the medium-sized brindle Labrador / Pit Bull mix that she just took a walk, will find a good home very soon.

“He’s so sweet and he’s such a good dog,” Biggers said.

Kane said animal control officers rely on volunteers to give dogs and cats the kind of attention they need.

“You can’t just put the dogs in the dog park and leave them – especially in the winter,” Kane said. “They need to be walked around and they need to interact with people. Our volunteers spend quality time with them and we really need people who have that kind of time to spend with the animals to help us. “

To view Macomb County Animal Control’s adoptable pets, go to animalcontrol.macombgov.org and click the Petfinder link on the homepage. For more information on volunteering or adopting a pet, visit the website or call 586-469-5115.