Repeatedly Homeless, a Shelter Dog Now Helps the Homeless

Everyone was pulling for Porsha.  The poor dog just couldn’t catch a break. 

Originally, she had come in as a stray, an odd looking one at that.  Everything about Porsha said gorgeous husky: the thick coat and full tail, the pointed ears, her intelligent gaze and perpetual grin; everything, that is, but her legs.  The short, slightly splayed legs said her daddy must have been a basset hound.

PORSHA

 Unique, affectionate and intelligent, Porsha was adopted.  A year or so later, her new family surrendered her back to the county shelter.  This time she attracted an elderly woman with a fenced in yard.  Dissatisfied with her new accommodations, Porsha dug her way out under the fence enough times to end up back at the shelter.

Porsha’s fourth home didn’t last an hour.  A woman picked her, paid her fee, and took her home, only to be told by the husband to bring Porsha back to the shelter. 

Poor Porsha.  The staff and volunteers at the Aiken County Shelter began the push.  Last Sunday, she was Pet-of-the-Week for our column.  Early Monday morning Porsha went on TV.  All day long her fans waited for the call to come.  Nothing.

When Porsha started showing signs of Kennel cough, the situation got tense.  Kennel cough is an air-born virus, easily treated like a common cold; however, it can infect an entire kennel population that breathes the same air.  It might have been Porsha’s death sentence. 

Then late Tuesday afternoon, a family from the Garden City Rescue Mission in Augusta came to the shelter.  They were not looking for a dog; they were looking for Porsha.  Keith, husband to Ansley and father to McKensie, 15, and Brant, age 8, had seen Porsha on TV and decided that she was the one.  He wanted her for the 45 to 60 men who come through the shelter every day.

The idea came from a conversation with the psychologist who consults to the program.  It has been found that dogs can help people in distress to open up and trust.  Caring for a dog, a creature totally dependent on humans for their well-being, can lead to the badly needed life management skills that may be absent in the homeless.

Last Tuesday, Porsha went home wagging and grinning with her new guardians to a place where her experiences with homelessness could be an asset.  Porsha had found more than a home; she had a job.

When we called a couple of days later, Porsha was being fed, bathed, and cared for by the men at Garden City Rescue Mission.

“We are already seeing positive results,” Keith said.  His mission started three-and-a-half years ago on the streets of Atlanta.  Now in Augusta, he runs the men’s division downstairs, while his wife oversees the women and children upstairs. And the community has a dog named Porsha.

“This has been an amazing journey,” Keith said.  We know.

“In as much as you have done it unto the least of these…”     

Contribute what you can.

 FOTAS Volunteers work with the AIKEN COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER, 411 Wire Road.  For more information, contact “info@fotasaiken.org” or visit FOTAS on line at www.fotasaiken.org

Aiken County Animal Shelter:  “By the Numbers”

For the week Feb. 20th thru 26th 2012

Received: 50 dogs and 19 cats

Adoptions: 13 dogs and 7 cats

Euthanized: 27 dogs and 18 cats

Aiken County Shelter “Pets of the Week” 

SKIPPY-4yr. male tabby with green eyes.   Eager to purr for you! Only $35  

 

BLAKE – 1-2 yr. Sweet, sweet boy

 

$70 includes neuter, microchip and all shots