Sometimes people pick their pets, and sometimes the pets pick them.
LifeLine Animal Project is taking that concept into its arsenal of options with its new “Meant to Meet” initiative featuring highly adoptable dogs.
The first event was held on Aug. 30, when three ready-to-adopt couples were offered the opportunity for a personal meet-and-greet with three staff favorites, Anthony Field, Penelope, and Linguista.
The event, inspired by online videos of similar reverse adoption efforts, was designed to give potential pet owners a more personal way to meet shelter dogs and see which connections felt natural, according to LifeLine officials.
“All three dogs were what we call ‘Level 1 animals,’ which means they had no issues, were extremely friendly, good with cats and children,” said LifeLine Senior Public Relations Manager/Spokesperson Tiki Artist. “In this case, we always try to pick animals that we feel would have a good outcome [with potential adopters].”
Anthony Field: A singer of sorts
One of the “Meant to Meet” dogs, Anthony Field, a stray mix who has been in the shelter since last October, probably came by his moniker by accident, but has turned out to live up to his namesake, Artist said.
“The funny thing about his name is that I honestly think we probably just had too many ‘Anthonys’ at the time and decided to call him Anthony Field,” she said. “There is an Australian musician named Anthony Field [an Australian musician, actor, songwriter, and producer, best known as the leader of the children’s group, the Wiggles] so there’s an accidental connection there.”
But Artist said Anthony Field is a singer of sorts.
Our Anthony definitely has a little performer in him,” she said. “When he sees another dog on a walk, he can put on this incredibly dramatic husky screeching performance that will turn heads – but then he settles right back down once they pass.”
Anthony Field, described as “super sweet, very polite on a leash, loves people, is cat-friendly, and knows ‘sit,'” is respectful around food, meaning he takes treats gently and won’t hog the dinner table, according to his notes.
‘Meant to meet’ took an unexpected twist
According to LifeLine officials, Anthony Field, Penelope and Linguista had very different reactions during the session.
“Some enthusiastically interacted with all three couples, while others took a more independent approach and essentially decided…’Thanks, but I’ll pass,'” they reported.
Although the event did not result in an adoption that day, it created another opportunity: all three participating couples are now planning to foster other shelter animals.
“For a first-time event, we were excited to see people engage with the dogs in such a personal way and come away wanting to stay involved with LifeLine,” Artist said. “It was a fun experiment in letting the dogs take the lead – quite literally – and we’d love to build on what we learned for future events.”
All three dogs, as of Sept. 3, are still available for adoption.
Clear the shelter initiative
The “Meant to Meet event” was part of LifeLine’s larger effort during August to clear the shelter.
An ambitious goal of finding 2,000 homes for its shelter pets fell just short, as 1,431 animals found homes during what LifeLife describes as a challenging month of economy-driven, ever-increasing surrenders.
As of Sept. 3, the DeKalb County facility is housing 511 dogs, 36 over its 474-dog limit. In Fulton County, the total number of dogs stands at 375, with a capacity of 407, according to Artist.
LifeLine is planning other large-scale efforts to find new homes for its dogs with its second Super Adopt-A-Thon on Saturday, Sept. 26, from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at Union Hill Park. 1590 Little Pine Trail, in Alpharetta.
On that day, the organization will transport 125 dogs – already spayed/neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, and ready for adoption that day. Adoption fees for the event will be waived.
