In Collaboration With Muttville Senior Dog Rescue
Picture a dog shelter. What do you see? Perhaps rows of dogs cramped in small metal cages, eagerly waiting to be adopted? Enter Muttville, a cage-free dog shelter - and the United States' very first.
Picture a dog shelter. What do you see? Perhaps rows of dogs cramped in small metal cages, eagerly waiting to be adopted?
Many animal shelters across the world have difficulty making ends meet as they cater to the perpetually high influx of abandoned dogs, and most try their best to meet the basic needs of these dogs as they are dedicated to finding forever homes for these dogs.
Enter Muttville, a cage-free dog shelter - and the United States' very first. Based in San Francisco, California, Muttville has rescued close to 10,000 senior dogs over the past fifteen years, providing veterinary services and end-of-life care for canines.
Muttville's cageless concept is not unlike that of animal sanctuaries, where residents are free-roaming.
While animals in shelters are usually kept in cages, Muttville believes that dogs thrive in a home-like environment, so they have built their facility to look and feel like someone's living room. At Muttville, you won't find cages or kennels. Instead, you'll find futons, plush couches, and dozens of dog beds in every corner of the room.
Muttville's story started when their founder Sherri Franklin noticed the absence of senior dogs on the adoption floor at the San Francisco Animal Care Control, where she had been a volunteer. The adoption floor refers to the area where dogs are kept in cages for potential adopters to view.
Being hidden from view contributed to the perception that no one wanted to adopt senior dogs, a misconception Franklin was determined to resolve. Thus, Muttville was born - out of Franklin's home, making living in a cage-free environment natural for the dogs.
If you are wondering what it is like to manage a cageless dog shelter, Muttville has answers. Presently, their space consists of multiple rooms and lofts of different sizes, each of which is occupied by different seniors.
Whenever a new dog joins Muttville, they are first slowly introduced to the others. In general, the dogs get along well with each other. Some like independence more than others, but most of them enjoy finding friends and cozying up together.
Although Muttville has a physical facility, they are primarily foster-based, operating with a network of fosterers they built over time. According to Muttville's statistics, people of all ages love senior dogs. Roughly a quarter of their adopters are senior citizens, with the rest being primarily families and young adults.
They also have volunteer programs in place, allowing members of the public to assist with facility care, walk the senior dogs, and transport them among other duties.
Besides being a beacon of inspiration in the animal welfare scene, one of Muttville's core tenets is community engagement. They serve as a resource for other shelters by sharing best practices and useful information about their operations.
Through sharing their knowledge with various animal welfare organizations and hosting informative seminars, Muttville hopes to pave the way for other shelters nationwide and internationally to adopt a similar approach.
With any luck, their story will inspire rescues worldwide, giving senior dogs and other animals alike the freedom to run and play as they are meant to.
Muttville encourages all to visit local shelters (including their own!) and visit dogs, even if only to see them and not to adopt. Muttville also hopes this will change the general perception of senior and shelter dogs, showing how wonderful and lovable they can be.
Senior or not, dogs enter shelters by no fault of their own. Older dogs are in a special period in their lives, and anyone can be the reason they live out their last years happy, loved, and cared for.
The Animal Welfare Station would like to thank Muttville for collaborating with us to enlighten the public on important matters related to senior dogs and animal shelters. Special thanks to Bunny Rosenberg, Director of Community Engagement at Muttville.
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