ADOPTION STORY: The Charlie's Angels Pups

We fondly called them the Charlie’s Angels Pups. 

Kelly, Sabrina, and Jill are a trio of German Shepherd mixes around two and a half months old who were found abandoned at an apartment complex in Midland. 

Mireya Torres, an MHC staff member, found the puppies wandering freely by the parking lots. They were hiding underneath parked vehicles for shelter.

“I could not just leave them, so I immediately made a plan to help them,” says Torres. 

Living out on the streets and exposed to the elements, the puppies were helpless and vulnerable.

Plea for Foster Homes for the puppies went out on Social Media

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Torres sprung into action and collected the puppies to bring them to a safe environment as soon as possible — her own home. 

The puppies needed to go into a foster home first because they were too young and weak to be placed in the Adoption Center inside PetSmart. More importantly, they were completely unvetted. 

MHC put out a call for fosters right away, but with very young puppies, it usually takes time to find the right foster match. With some rescue cases — time really is of the essence and is the difference between life and death. 

With no foster home available yet, Torres stepped up and provided all three puppies with an impromptu “foster home”, which became the first stop in their journey to forever homes. This was something she knew she probably had to do when she first took the puppies in.

As their foster parent, Torres was able to assess their health and condition, allow them to decompress from any trauma, as well as keep them quarantined from the other adoptable pets until they were fully vetted. All this was done with support from MHC. 

“They were not acting at all like puppies. They made no noises and barely moved,”observed Torres of the puppies when she first got them settled in.

Isolation is a key stage to keeping all rescued pets safe, so diseases and parasites are not spread among the population. With rescues picked up straight from the streets, you never can tell the conditions they are in at first glance so it is imperative that they go into a quarantine period. 

Upon further observation, Torres discovered the puppies were infested by ticks and fleas. 

“I immediately got a bath ready for them because I noticed some fleas on them, but I quickly realized the fleas were even worse than I thought. My boyfriend and I were up until 2 a.m. picking fleas off of them,” recalls Torres who, as MHC Staff, was well acquainted with the process of dealing with various pet afflictions. 

With care and treatment, they soon got the flea and tick situation under control. 

Once the puppies settled into their foster home and got the necessary attention they so desperately needed, they started opening up and becoming very lively. 
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“Kelly is the biggest of the sister, extremely outgoing, talkative, and loves attention. Jill is the smallest of the three even though she is small she makes up for it with her attitude and voice, she believes she is the top dog and is not afraid to take on the others and she loves food. Sabrina is the middle sister; she is very calm and laid back but loves cuddling,” shares Torres, who enjoyed getting to know the foster puppies while they were in her care. 
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THE BITTERSWEET INCIDENT OF A  FOSTER FAIL
(Foster to Adopt)

Because fosters helped out and opened up their homes, these puppies have survived the worst are now healthier and happier. 

It took a while, but eventually, another foster home opened up for Kelly and Jill. After the routine “Meet & Greet”, the new foster quickly declared their intentions to adopt the two puppies. She would foster them throughout the vetting (vaccinations and spay surgeries) and then she would adopt them officially right after. 

Sabrina, on the other hand, had unknowingly been in her forever home all along. Torres had grown very fond of this particular puppy and thought she belonged with her family. 

"I have 2 male dogs that are high energy and can be rambunctious but Sabrina calms them down and she fits right into our little pack,” says Torres. 

“FOSTER FAIL", a lighthearted, affectionate term used to describe when a foster pet parent permanently adopts the dog or cat, is one of the reasons we are constantly looking for new foster homes. Oftentimes, when foster homes take rescues in temporarily, they end up falling in love with them.

It is a bittersweet incident when we say goodbye to a foster home... as they welcome a pet into their forever home. 

And so begins our hunt for new foster homes again and again. 

Do you want to help save lives of countless pets? Become a pet foster! MHC will provide everything - vaccinations, surgeries, vet care, food and supplies - you need to take care of a pet. 
All you need is to open up your home to a pet in need - perhaps temporarily or perhaps for as long as you’d like. 
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Learn more about MHC’s Pet Foster Program:  www.midlandhumane.org/foster

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Midland Humane Coalition is honored to be a recipient of the  PetSmart Charities Adoption Preparation Grant for 2021.

With the help of this grant, we are able to prepare rescues for their new homes!  

Thank you, PetSmart Charities!

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