Ailing dog finally gets adopted
Marble – After her elderly owner passed away in Cherokee County, Beulah has spent her own twilight years in an animal shelter. The Valley River Humane Society was Beulah’s home for nearly a quarter of her life, and she had been at the shelter longer than any dog still there.
She returns every bit of love anyone shows her at the shelter. However, Beulah is a month and a half shy of her 11th birthday, and her body is giving out. Wracked with cancer, she doesn’t have long to live.
Thursday ended one chapter for Beulah and began something new. It was a time to celebrate, and she seemed puzzled by the sudden burst of attention.
A few more people coming by to visit? She’s used to love and attention from staff and volunteers. But a pretty new dress and silly party hat? Rotisserie chicken and layer cake?
Clearly, even to an aging dog, something was up.
How it began
Beulah’s owner, an elderly woman, died in September 2020. Beulah stayed by her side for days before the death was discovered.
Beulah was severely depressed when she first arrived at the Valley River Humane Society. She went from a warm and familiar home to a stall in an outdoor kennel surrounded by dozens of other homeless dogs. Since arriving, her world has been a patch of dirt and gravel surrounded by a chain-link fence.
Had it been a kill shelter, she would have been put down soon after arriving and you would not be reading about her today; however, the humane society operates a no-kill shelter. Staff, volunteers and resources are stretched thin, but each and every animal gets attention.
Over her long stay, Beulah saw a veterinarian 10 times and received all the vaccinations and medical care she needed, along with countless walks and stop-by visits from volunteers who fell in love with her. She had her own shade tree and chew toys, and she never missed a meal.
Still, it took more than a month for staff to help her out of her shell. As far as adoptability, Beulah does not fit the ideal profile.
Beulah may be loving and friendly, but around other animals and children she can get ornery. And at 92 pounds, the American Staffordshire Terrier can be a handful.
Her paperwork sums it up: Calm? Yes. Good with children, good with dogs, good with cats? No.
According to her paperwork, a foster family gave Beulah a chance at adoption in February 2021 but returned her to the shelter because she didn’t get along with their other pets. Another adoption ended in November 2021, when her adoptive owner got sick and couldn’t care for her.
Zookeeper returns
Valerie Gray was a zookeeper at Lion Country Safari in Florida before she became kennel manager at the Valley River Humane Society in 2014. She was a good fit for the job, but after the devastating loss of her own beloved dog, she left to take time off and heal.
Gray had been away from the humane society for about a year when in early February, shelter director Kirsty Waller suddenly died. Gray returned – “Like two days later,” she said – to help where she could. That’s when she became assistant kennel manager.
Beulah was at the kennel when Gray left and was there when Gray returned. She pretty much knows Beulah better than anyone else alive, and it shows – Beulah lights up and gets wiggly when Gray is around.
Gray specializes in the dogs with behavioral issues. She has sized up Beulah’s latest adoptive home as just as close to perfect as it gets.
The adoptive parent, whose name was not provided, is the director of an animal shelter in another county about 200 miles from Murphy. She specializes in rehabilitating feral pit bull terriers and, although she has other cats and dogs in the house, she is trained and experienced for situations far more complicated than having Beulah in her home.
She met Beulah while picking up another dog at the shelter to foster. There was immediate chemistry, and she wasted no time providing what in all probability will be Beulah’s last stop.
A humane society
Finding homes for the less adoptable dogs has become an urgent mission at the shelter. Aside from the expense – it costs $40-$60 per day to feed and care for each animal at the shelter, which takes in about 2,000 homeless pets and strays per year – the facility is working to overcome numerous difficulties: the tragic loss of its director, funding, capacity limitations and a shortage of volunteers.
The organization is still without an executive director following Waller’s death on
Feb. 1. Valley River Humane Society President Jim Gerke said the shelter’s board of directors is getting the facility in shape before it starts looking for Waller’s replacement.
Gerke said the facility is working to stay in good graces with state authorities who regulate the facility. Finding homes for the long-term animals takes a red flag off the state’s radar, plus opens up space for more homeless animals.