10
Loading video...
By Jack Beresford
Senior Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
A dog who was surrendered to a California animal shelter, having "shut down" following the death of her owner, is starting to piece her life back together again.
Pretty, the 1-year-old Queensland mix, had arrived at the City of Visalia animal services as a stray. Tracy Everett, a senior animal care worker at the facility who gave her her name, told Newsweek: "It was later discovered that her owner had passed away and Pretty was being cared for by her sister. Unfortunately, the sister was the person who called her in as a stray."
To say Pretty was in bad shape would be something of an understatement. "She came to the shelter extremely shut down," Everett said. "She was scared to death, would not move out of the corner and was shaking the entire time. For a good week she would just shake when anybody would try to approach her."
Read More on Pets
...
Despite the best efforts of staff and volunteers, shelters can be a stressful place for dogs. That fact was highlighted in a 2022 study published in Scientific Reports, which saw researchers investigate a link between the amount of the hormone cortisol sound in a shelter dog's hair and their stress levels.
Samples were taken from 52 shelter dogs at four key moments: before they arrived in the shelter, six weeks into their stay at the shelter, six weeks after they were adopted and six months on from leaving the shelter.
Compared with a control group, they found that cortisol levels rose one third after six weeks in the shelter and had lowered six weeks and six months after adoption.
Everett acknowledged that Pretty was "having a hard time adapting to the environment of a shelter" but she has been working tirelessly to get Pretty "out of her shell" and has already seen positive results.
"I was able to work with her and she began to trust me," Everett said. "I started with sharing my food with her. I would take my lunch and I would give her part of it. I would just go sit in front of her kennel and talk. It brought her out of her shell with me."
From there, the senior animal care worker was able to ramp things up. "I started moving her to my office where she could decompress and sleep during the day to help her feel a little bit better and more secure," Everett said. "When she realized that she was not going to be harmed and we weren't bad she came out of her shell tremendously."
...
Everett said it took just over "a week and a half" to get Pretty feeling comfortable. "I've been working with her nonstop to help bring her out of her shell and to socialize her with people as well as dogs and she's amazing," Everett said. "She likes to chase balls but does not know how to bring them back just yet. She also loves beef jerky and sitting in a crate in the office while I work."
Everett would love to see Pretty find the forever home she so richly deserves but she's keen to stress that she's a special dog who requires a special someone to meet her needs.
"She needs a family that is willing to give her time and understand that she's come from a broken home," she said. "The perfect home for pretty would be someone that has the patience and time to teach her new things to explore the world and to travel. She loves to be outdoors, but she also likes her comfort and will need to have a bed to sleep in."
Ultimately, Everett feels anyone interested in adopting Pretty is best served coming down to the shelter. "We have some amazing dogs that have been unhoused that are always looking for their forever home," she said.
After arriving in a "shut down" state, Pretty has been brought back to life with a little love and care from staff like Everett at the shelter. Who knows what a new home and family might do.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines