Happy Tails

My mom and brother went to the shelter in November 2016 to adopt a dog for me. My brother choose a black lab mix called Princess who climbed into his lab the second she saw him.

On Thanksgiving Day I was totally surprised and overwhelmingly happy with my surprise fur baby. Princess is now called Neely Rose and she is one happy pup.

She loves to hike and play with her friends at the park. In addition to her twice daily walk, we triathlon train together. We open water swim in the rivers and sounds of eastern North Carolina. On bike days she rides in a baby trailer I pull behind my bike. She is my number one running partner; we do about 25 miles/week together when we're half-marathon training.

She knows lots of new tricks and we are agility training; she picked up weaving in only 3 training sessions.

Neely Rose is in her forever home super spoiled with all the love, treats, and exercise she could ever want. I'm pretty sure she was the one who rescued me.

Kendra Beaty, Dog Mom

This is Shelly. I adopted her and brought her home. Having 3 small dogs, I wasn't sure how she would be accepted into the family. My female poodle Piper acts like she's her puppy and not a kitten. It amazes me. We love her and so happy she is a part of our family.

Rene Sisk

Our family adopted our sweet terrier mix, Bella, on December 1st. My mother-in-law volunteers for Animal Care and Enforcement and happened to walk Bella, who was nameless at the time, that day. She called to tell us she found us the perfect second dog to add to our family that we had been searching for.

Within minutes of our entire family meeting her we knew she was the one and immediately went to fill out paperwork to make her our own.

She is super sweet with our daughters and loves to play with her standard dachshund big brother.

We're so happy we were able to give her a home for Christmas! Our first family photo with Paw Paw as Santa Claus!

First I want to thank everyone at the shelter for being kind, understanding and helpful when I went there looking to adopt a companion. It was a tough time for me. My husband was diagnosed with cancer on 5/17. Unfortunately it was a very aggressive form of stomach cancer. He was sent home on 7/8 on hospice. By 7/21 he was not doing well and the loneliness and grief I was feeling was overwhelming.

As I started walking past the kennels the dog in the 3rd kennel called Alli really caught my eye and made contact with me. Still I looked at every dog there. While there were a couple of others I liked the look of none of them had made contact with me like she had. I went in and asked to see her. The only notes they had on her was that she was shy and she had been taken in on 6/25. When they brought her out to me I noticed she was very calm on the leash considering she was just brought out of a kennel and meeting a stranger. I sat on the ground and she came over laid on my lap and started kissing my face. She was actually hugging me with her paws. I knew she was my girl then. I went in and got the paperwork done. I was sad to have to leave her there that night but understood she needed to go to the vet the next day and I could pick her up from there.

I got a call from the vet around noon the next day and started out to go get my new girl who was now renamed Merrymaker or Merry for short. I was so excited. I got her home and she instantly went for the bedroom where my husband was. She wanted up on that bed. I let her up there and she proceeded to lick his face. She wanted to lie up there with him. She knew. My husband passed away that night. He had always told me he felt safer with me being alone if I had a dog. In Merry being there with him he knew I would be okay and that she would take care of me. I really believe that helped him let go.

Since he passed Merry has proven to be a perfect fit here. She comforts me when I cry and is very protective, barking at anything she perceives as a threat. She is also extremely well house broken, knows basic commands and is fantastic on a leash. I couldn't ask for a better companion than her. I still say she picked me out. She is a very empathetic dog and sensed my pain. She still does and even if she is in another room she seems to know when I'm really hurting and always seeks me out.

I highly recommend Gaston Shelter as the place to go when you're looking for a furry friend to adopt.

Melissa Hansen

My fiancé and I adopted "Annabelle" back in September of 2014. Thank you to Animal Care and Enforcement for allowing us to adopt this precious baby. She immediately stole our hearts and became a family member instantly. She is a Lab mix with pit-bull (We think) and I wish I could clone her. Sweetest and smartest dog I've ever had. She weighs 43 pounds and is all muscle and sometimes she forgets she is a dog and wants your constant kisses and attention. She did get parvo after having her for 2 weeks (she did not get it from the shelter) however, thanks to Animal Care they provided me with a list of Doctors which I chose "Gaston Vet" off of Franklin across from the bowling alley and they were amazing! Annabelle will be 2 this coming July and is happy and healthy. I wouldn't recommend anywhere else to adopt your fur baby.

We adopted Clifford 4 years ago. Words cannot describe what a wonderful boy he is. He is fantastic with children, incredibly smart, and so goofy!! Couldn't imagine life without him!!

The Murray Family

We got our Canelo on 9/23 from Animal Care and Enforcement and he has been a wonderful addition to our family. We were told he was a Shepherd Mix but he is actually a Golden Retriever Mix. He is so sweet, and kind. He loves the boys and has so much patience with them. My 5 year old was scared of dogs but now he loves them. Thank you so much for Canelo!

What can I say about Asher?

I adopted Asher, who was then known as Aries, back in July of 2015. From what we were told, his previous owners could no longer take care of him and his brother, Chibs (who was then known as Pluto). Since his adoption, Asher has become the center of my life. He has brought so much joy to our household, and he is always the focus of attention. He is loving, playful, and definitely knows how to cheer someone up. We have recently moved to Rock Hill, where I accepted a position working at a university. Since the position requires me to live on campus, Asher has adopted around 400 students - they have made it a point to always stop by and pet him, or play with him. In this case, I really do feel that Asher rescued me! I just don't know how I ever lived my life without him. We would like to thank his previous owners for entrusting his care to the Gaston County Animal Control, because if they hadn't, we wouldn't have been united!

Warmly,

Amanda E. Marshall

Just wanted to share our happy tail about Rosie, a pug we adopted from your shelter exactly a year ago. She was missing some fur, had a rib that stuck out of her side, and was very underweight. Now she is the queen of the house and is happy and healthy! We absolutely love her and we are so thrilled she is home with us!

Pictured is Rosie the day we brought her home and Rosie with her bugg brother, Pippin.

Dot was listed as a bite dog and was in isolation at the shelter. As a volunteer, I worked with her to try and see if they could remove the "bite dog" label. She did very well. Although not able to be put into Adoptable status because she still needed work, we pulled her under a rescue and fostered her.

We worked with her for 4 months and found she was not a bite dog at all but a big ham and just needed training to behave. She went everywhere we went and became very well socialized. And of course, learned her manners. She now lives with her forever home near Asheville living the life in a country club community with 3 boy humans and their parents.

All it takes sometimes is a little training.

Jake was adopted August 25, 2015 and is doing great!

I adopted this little tortoiseshell girl July 30 from your shelter. We named her Bristol. She loves her friend Turbo. She was a hot mess when we got her, she was covered in fleas, had worms, and feline herpes. With a little TLC she got better and is enjoying life now.

Wendy

This is Jackie, the baby adopted in July. She is so happy and healthy. Thank you for the ease of adoption.

We adopted this precious girl on April 18, 2015 and she is absolutely the best dog in the world. Roxie is 60 pounds of pure love, devotion and loyalty and is also good at entertaining my elderly parents with her antics! She was partially house-broken when we got her; she only had 2 accidents and that was because her new parents trusted her too soon to have the run of the entire house. She soon got the hang of where to go (outside) and we have had no more accidents and she has claimed the entire house as hers. She has learned so many commands and phrases, she loves belly rubs, walks and really goes crazy when we ask if she wants to go for a ride in the car! She's a bit big for a lap dog, but snuggles for hours with us on the sofa and lays her head on our lap, so that is even better! We love, love, love her! So please, if you are thinking about adding a pet to your family, give a shelter dog a chance... you won't regret it...

Sheila and Ron

We adopted Charlie in May. He is such a well mannered boy and he smiles constantly! Charlie has made a wonderful addition to our little family! Here are some pictures of him, including his before and after photo!

Brie and Jake

We adopted Luna a week and a half ago (May 2015) and she has quickly become part of the family. She has quickly stolen all of our hearts. She is still tiny, but growing, just passed the 1 pound mark now.

The Bradleys

Daphne was adopted from the Gaston County Animal Shelter on February 20th, 2015. Since that day our lives have been changed for the better! We love Daphne so much, and can't imagine our lives without her in them.

Daphne's favorite thing to do is run, and run…and run. She can run faster than any dog at the dog park! She also loves snow cones, and chicken (but really, who doesn't?).

Daphne has an unlimited amount of nicknames: Daffodil, Daffothrill, Daffy, the list goes on and on. Thank you for the opportunity to enrich our lives with such a loving, and loyal pup!

Megan and Justin

Back in November of 2012 we weren't looking for more cats - we already had four. But while surfing one night we saw two beautiful sisters listed as Adoptable Gold in the database and we had to go visit them at Animal Control. Not surprisingly, we adopted them. It would turn out to be one of the best decisions we've ever made.

Mimi and Gracie fit right in and rejuvenated our household. Our two older cats enjoyed watching them from the sidelines, but our other two embarked on their second kitten-hoods suddenly becoming more playful again and jumping right into the action. And the relationship they have with each other has been so much fun to watch. It's comforting to us to know that they have each other - a playmate and someone to keep them company while we're out.

Every single day we are amazed that these beautiful little members of our family were available at Animal Control. Every single day Mimi and Gracie bring joy, beauty, and love into our lives. Every single day we are grateful we had this opportunity. Not a day goes by that one of us doesn't say, "I can't believe how lucky we are…" It's not hyperbole to say they've changed our lives. We may have a houseful, but from time to time we still check out the Animal Control database. We can't help but wonder… are others making one of the best decisions they've ever made, or are they missing the opportunity to add a lot of love to their lives? One thing is for sure - from here on out we're adopting in pairs!

Trudy is such a sweet, polite little lady! She has already brought so much joy to our lives. Thank you for all that you do for these angels!

Sincerely,

Erica Steppe

I adopted Lolly Jean on December 1. I am happy to report she is doing very well! Her eye was an old scar and she can even see with it and she was already spayed. She is house trained and crate trained and loves to snuggle.

Kara

Iris was adopted in December 2014. As you can see, she is enjoying her forever home and has a big brother to watch out over her.