Humane Educational Society of Chattanooga, TN

As you contemplate and consider your idea of an ideal companion to love, please remember that our facility has many pets for adoption who are considered to be in their "golden years." Please consider the option of adopting an older pet. There are many mature pets who are left at shelters because their person has passed away or was unable to care for them due to hardships. Others are left for reasons we don't understand but in almost all cases, the reasons they are left aren't due to the the pet or the pet's behavior. The pets are the innocents that are displaced and waiting to find someone to love them, in so many cases, someone to love them again. Most times they are passed over for the "youngsters" in our shelter, but we have found through our own experiences there is much joy in loving and living with an older companion.

Please read the following information regarding the rewards of adopting a mature animal before you make your adoption decision.

Older pets don't require full time attention. Most mature pets are very content to lie near when you are home yet ready to go along on a hike or walk when you are. As with younger and more active pets, they don't require full time interaction.

Please take a few moments to read below. This conveys the true story:

One by One, they pass by my cage,
Too old, too worn, too broken, no way.
Way past his time, he can't run and play.
Then they shake their heads slowly and go on their way.

A little old man, arthritic and sore,
It seems I am not wanted anymore.
I once had a home, I once had a bed,
A place that was warm, and where I was fed.

Now my muzzle is gray, and my eyes slowly fail.
Who wants a dog so old and so frail?
My family decided I didn't belong,
I got in their way, my attitude was wrong.

Whatever excuse they made in their head,
Can't justify how they left me for dead.
Now I sit in this cage, where day after day,
The younger dogs get adopted away.

When I had almost come to the end of my rope,
You saw my face, and I finally had hope.
You saw through the gray, and the legs bent with age,
And felt I still had life beyond this cage.

You took me home, gave me food and a bed,
And shared your own pillow with my poor tired head.
We snuggle and play, and you talk to me low,
You love me so dearly, you want me to know.

I may have lived most of my life with another,
But you outshine them with a love so much stronger.
And I promise to return all the love I can give,
To you, my dear person, as long as I live.

I may be with you for a week, or for years,
We will share many smiles, you will no doubt shed tears.
And when the time comes that God deems I must leave,
I know you will cry and your heart, it will grieve.

And when I arrive at the Bridge, all brand new,
My thoughts and my heart will still be with you.
And I will brag to all who will hear,"
Of the person who made my last days so dear.

Author: Leslie Whalen

Mature Pets