Meet Martin, an older shelter dog who was in dire need of a home after his family gave him up because they were becoming too old to care for him.
When he was brought into the SPCA of Wake County, Martin was somewhere about 10 years old. His father had a tremendous amount of affection for Martin, but he was just unable to look after him anymore.
According to Samantha Ranlet, a marketing communications expert at the SPCA, who spoke with The Dodo about the situation, “His dad was 89 years old and reached a point where he couldn’t offer the life that he believed Martin deserved.” “He hoped that he would have a better life for him.”
Martin’s dad sent his elderly dog to the animal shelter in the hopes that the staff there might find an appropriate forever home for Martin, where he could spend the rest of his golden years in peace.
Ranlet remarked that he had adjusted rather well. “I don’t know whether he realized what was going on, but even from day one, he was just this joyful, easy-going, very nice old guy with a teddy bear face,” said the other person.
Nevertheless, due to Martin’s advanced age, the process of locating an adoptive family proved to be more challenging than originally anticipated.
Ranlet said that “he continued to be overlooked on a consistent basis.” “At this period of time, seven adoptions were unsuccessful due to a variety of factors.”
Yet, Martin’s age wasn’t the only thing that had a role in the decision to adopt him. Since he was also positive for heartworm, prospective adopters were reluctant to take him in.
Because of this, the team at the SPCA decided to do something new in order to spread the word about Martin after the seventh adoption attempt failed.
Ranlet said that they had reached the point where they believed, “We had to utilize the internet to urge our community to help us share him and get him into a family.”
It turned out that all it took to garner Martin the attention he needed was a single post on Facebook telling his tale and including two images of his gorgeous teddy bear face.
Ranlet said that “posting on Facebook” was the deciding factor in the outcome. “His message was shared by hundreds of people, and all of a sudden, we had people getting in touch with us over the phone, through email, and so on and so forth,”
It took less than forty-eight hours for the adoption applications for the senior dog to reach their maximum capacity after Martin’s article gained widespread attention and went viral.
One of the submissions was submitted by a couple who had previous experience working with older canines.
Ranlet said that the individuals in question did not show any concern for either his age or the fact that he suffered from heartworm illness. “They simply couldn’t resist his teddy bear vibe and fell head over heels in love with him.”
Martin was brought back to the house he’s been staying in for the last several weeks by the couple. Due to the fact that he is currently undergoing treatment for heartworms at the SPCA of Wake County on the weekends, his adoption has not been confirmed just yet, but it will be shortly.
Ranlet shared her thoughts by stating, “As soon as he finishes his therapy, they are going to make the adoption public.” “He still has a month or two of work ahead of him,” we said.
Martin is the only dog in his new home, but he gets along well with his younger cat sister, whom they name Hilltop, and they joyfully share their space.
Every day, the team at the SPCA misses Martin, despite the fact that they get to see him for his routine heartworm appointments. Nonetheless, they are overjoyed that despite the odds, he was able to find the ideal home for him, and they have high hopes that others would be motivated to adopt older dogs as a result of his tale.
Ranlet said that it was pleasant to show greater consideration for elderly canines. “It assists in bringing to people’s attention the fact that they are worthy to adopt as well.”
