Seniors Helping Seniors

During the month of October 2023, Second Chance Animal Center partnered with our local Subaru dealer to participate in the "Subaru Loves Pets" campaign. Lundgren Subaru of Bennington has always been a supporter of our animal shelter, and throughout the past few years this dealership has organized pet-food drives for our community pet food pantry, hosted adoption events and "meet and greets", and they even have a special page on their website to feature Second Chance animals looking for their forever homes. We knew that this October campaign was a good opportunity to promote the adoption of one of our senior dogs, Youkillus. Youkillus arrived at Second Chance after his owner was severely injured in a fire accident. Though Youkillus came into her life when he was only 8-weeks old, she was unable to care for her dog since she needed extensive in-patient treatment to heal her injuries. Youkillus, a once popular breed known as a Pugle with a beautiful white mask, was 14 years old when he was surrendered to our care. His owner called frequently to check on his health and to make sure that we knew she would be back for him if her health improved. Unfortunately, this would not be the case. Second Chance has a special adoption program called "Seniors for Seniors." With this program we try to match a senior person with a senior cat or dog, and we waive the adoption fee. This program recognizes the importance of animal-to-human connections and how pets can provide companionship to those who spend a lot of time alone in their homes. When we received a dog application from a senior woman who was looking for a calm, friendly senior dog, we immediately thought of Youkillus. When meeting this woman, Youkillus turned on the charm and won her over. When the woman said YES to Youkillus, she was pleasantly surprised and very appreciative to learn about our "Seniors for Seniors" program. We have heard that this new senior pair is getting along quite well and that Youkillus is content in his new forever home.