Why Darlington You Ask
When people ask me why DCHS, this is the reason.
To begin our story, I thought I'd take some time to explain why a PA based business started an online pet store to benefit an animal shelter in Darlington, SC. It all started with an online post about a dog looking for her forever home named Kira, who is a senior American Staffordshire Terrier Mix dressed in pink. Clicking to read more about her led me to Petfinder, which took me to the dogs available for adoption at DCHS (Darlington County Humane Society). I read her sad story and continued looking around at the other dogs available. That's when I saw my boy Pluto, reading his story made me cry. When I got to the part that said he was sitting in the shelter for 3 years and all he wished for was a family of his own for Christmas, that was it I had to try to adopt him. Without a second thought I sent DCHS a message through Petfinder, inquiring about Pluto. Afterwards I thought about it and figured they would tell me they don't adopt out of state, let alone 9+ hours away which made me really sad for little Pluto. As luck would have it I got emailed back, filled out the adoption application, had a phone interview and was approved. We drove to Darlington over a weekend, to meet Pluto and make sure we were the right family for him. I must say, the second he came out of his kennel, I knew we were the right fit for him. After spending some time with Pluto, we planned on picking him up Monday, before heading home to PA. On our drive back to the hotel that day, I couldn't believe my ears, when I heard my other half say "poor Pluto, the little guy just wants someone to love him, how could he have been there for so long". That brought a smile to my face and in that moment I knew everything was right in my world. Monday we picked Pluto up as planned, when we got there he jumped right in the car and looked at us like okay I'm ready, lets go. We got on the road and within the hour he was sound asleep, like he hadn't slept that good in years. It was a long trip home, because of the traffic, but Pluto was awesome the entire ride to his new home. Happy as could be, tail wagging while watching the scenery go by, we could tell he knew he was safe.
Now I'm sure you're curious how the first couple days went. We were nervous knowing that he was a shelter dog for 3 years and who knows what happened before that to our little guy. Would he mark in the house, would he chew everything, would he have accidents in his crate? I am happy to report he has never tried to mark in the house or had an accident in his crate. That being said he doesn't shred things, but he only wants to sleep on blankets that are ours. He has destroyed brand new blankets, but I'll take that any day. If he finds comfort in our blankets and clothes piles while I'm trying to do wash, that's love.
In conclusion senior girl Kira (who is sadly still looking for her forever home, look her up on Petfinder to read her story) and Pluto were the beginning of our venture. DCHS took a chance on us and for that we are truly grateful everyday. This year Pluto will finally have the first Christmas with his family that he wished for during those long 3 years as a shelter dog.
More to come on other dogs that are part of our story such as Orville, Miles, Batman, Darryl and Suzie, just to name a few.
I need to take a second to say yes adopting out of state can be more challenging, but it is well worth it. Darlington does do their best to match the right dog to the right family or person, by taking the time to take plenty of pictures, videos and write bios so you can get as much info as possible to make a decision. As a side note, all dogs come with current vaccinations, spayed/neutered and micro-chipped for a $100 adoption fee, which is much more reasonable than some of the other fees I have seen.
https://dchsbridge.com/ - Bridge allows DCHS to save more animals and provide better care for animals that need more attention, such as starved, beaten, and/or mange cases, etc. This facility is where Pluto lived for 3 years (due to suffering from mange and starvation) and Kira who is still searching for a family of her own.
I love your huge heart!