2 Y.O. Dog Adopted After More Than 400 Days At The Wickenburg Humane Society Shelter

It is unfortunate that dogs (among many other animals, in fact) often end up in shelters. Besides all of the stress and trauma that they have to live through after being abandoned or after having lived in the “wild” streets, being in a shelter doesn’t guarantee a happily-ever-after ending. But at least it tries its hardest to do so. And sometimes hard work pays off in heaps.

Meet Lola, a former stray pooch and young mother of six who ended up in a shelter along with all of her offspring. But, after an impressive 400-plus days, she was finally adopted and now lives in her forever home in Mesa, Arizona.

Meet Lola, the 2 Y.O. mommy doggy of 6 puppers who has ended up in an animal shelter over a year ago

Image credits: Arizona Humane Society

So, Lola was originally brought to the Humane Society of Wickenburg, Arizona over a year ago, in September of 2019, as a stray along with her litter of six puppies.

She continued raising her puppies whilst in the shelter, and watched as each of them, one by one, were adopted as she patiently waited for her turn.

It does take a while for dogs to get adopted, and it’s around seven times longer when you consider dog years, so it does feel like an eternity for the pooch. But it doesn’t usually take as long as it did in Lola’s case.

Nobody thought she would end up staying there for over 400 days—much more than most other dogs!

Image credits: Arizona Humane Society

But after a long wait, Lola was transferred to another shelter and was adopted within less than 24 hours

Image credits: Arizona Humane Society

To many people’s surprise, Lola spent over 400 days in the shelter. In our terms, that’s more than a year, and in Lola’s terms, that is over half of her current lifetime!

According to the Animal Legal and Historical Center of Michigan State University, over 30 states have “holding period” laws, which determine the minimum required period an animal must be kept at a pound or shelter before it’s adopted, sold, or euthanized. This is usually 5 to 7 days, but can be as short as 24 hours.

So, keeping animals for longer than the legally prescribed period is a matter of each individual shelter. Given this information, the Humane Society has really walked the extra mile(s) for Lola here, and for that, we commend them!

Lola was originally brought into the Wickenburg Humane Society as a stray back in September of 2019

Image credits: Arizona Humane Society

Along with her were 6 of her puppies, who were one-by-one adopted during her stay at the shelter

Image credits: Arizona Humane Society

After these 400-plus days, she made her way to Phoenix, Arizona to try her luck getting adopted. Thanks to the Arizona Humane Society’s (AHS) Project Reachout Program, an initiative launched to help save as many pets’ lives as possible by working together with other shelters, Lola was finally transferred to another shelter where she was adopted in under 24 hours.

In Lola’s case, the transfer is said to be strictly for a change of venue and makes her one of more than 870 pets who have been helped through this program.

Now, shelters aren’t legally obligated to keep animals for more than 1–7 days, depending on the state

Image credits: Arizona Humane Society

But the Arizona Humane Society kept her for over 400 days until she finally got adopted last week

Image credits: Arizona Humane Society

And this worked out for the best as this also meant that she got adopted and will continue living her life together with her new forever family in Mesa, Arizona.

Lola is said to be a very sweet pup who loves people, is well-behaved and potty trained, and loves snuggling with her four-legged friends as well as getting belly rubs.

A very social dog all around, it was a complete mystery why she was given the short end of the stick when it came to adoption. Luckily, the relocation solved the problem!

Image credits: Arizona Humane Society

Bored Panda has covered a number of other rescue and adoption stories, like this list of celebrities who decided to adopt and not shop, or these before and after pics of the life-changing adoption that these doggies underwent.

Here’s a video of Lola enjoying a good snuggle with one of the keepers at the shelter

Click to unmute

Image credits: Arizona Humane Society

What are your thoughts on this? Have you adopted strays or rescues? Let us know in the comment section below!