BY MORGAN PRACHAR (’17)

Dogs have been placed in shelters for many years, just waiting to be adopted. According to the ASPCA 3.9 million dogs are put in shelters each year, but some will never arrive to a furever home.

Guidance counselor Ms. Ann Raffay talked about when she found her “fur baby” Maggie in a shelter, about two years ago. Finding her dog was a coincidence, she arrived at the shelter and was about to leave when her puppy, Maggie was just placed in the shelter.

Maggie was one when she arrived in the shelter and was a spazz when she was brought home. Raffay said Maggie is a very high energy dog, but does love to cuddle. She is very connected to Raffay and very skiddish around others

There are two types of shelters in America, kill shelters and non-kill shelters. Kill shelters give dogs a certain amount of time before euthanizing them.

“Not only do you save a life, but its way better than sitting in a cage all day,” Raffay said.

Adopting a dog is much cheaper than getting one at a pet store, plus they do not have to worry about puppy mills.

Junior Kelsey Frahn and her family recently welcomed a new dog into their home. They were looking for a new dog for about four months before they found their new puppy, Ekko. He was about nine weeks when they got him and is four months now. Ekko is a very energetic dog and loves socks, and anything he can get his paws on, Frahn said.

“He is a perfect cuddle buddy, even though he has grown too big to sit on my lap,” Frahn said

Many applications are involved in the adoption process. Some of the questions include, the household income, how often there will be people in the home, and how you will care for the dogs.

While Kelsey was explaining the adoption process Frahn made the important point that adopting dogs is very time consuming but brings a ton of life to the home.