Our commitment to the animals in our care doesn’t start with the day that they enter our shelter, nor does it end on the day they leave it.

Twyla was a special behavior case back in 2020-2021. She was terrified and unable to be touched from day one. For a month prior to her arrival, multiple staff members worked together to ensure we had the right set-up (foster, behavior medications, planning surgeries/medical care, etc.). We did not want there to be a single avoidable fearful moment for her during her stay with us.

In her foster home, she was untouchable for over a month, needing even longer to get used to a leash and going outside. Twyla unfortunately had to receive a lot of medical care during her time in foster due to panicking, making herself sick, etc. This was tricky since she wasn’t touchable, even often by her own foster parent, and we didn’t want to ruin her progress, so we did a lot of her care virtually.

After over six months, she was finally adopted by the perfect family. Her adopters reached out in early February 2021. We talked about Twyla with them for over a week before they took her home. We spent about a month helping them with the transition. In March, they officially adopted!

We received the following happy tail from her adopters:

“Since today marks one year with Twyla, we thought we’d fill you in on her amazing progress so far! When we first expressed interest in Twyla, we were told she likely wouldn’t go outside for at least 6 months (if ever) because of her severe anxiety. Within two months she was taking her first steps outside and by four months she was going on hikes and walks–it turns out she’s quite the little explorer! It’s been so inspiring to see her confidence grow and her personality develop. She’s turned into such a silly, cuddly pup with so much love to give. In addition to hiking and going on walks, Twyla loves playing tug, going to the dog park, snuggling, and getting belly rubs. She continues to impress us–just in the last month she started actually playing with other dogs at the park!

We are so thankful for our little girl, and although she still has lots of anxiety, she’s getting more and more confident everyday. Thank you for allowing us to take a chance on this wonderful pup!

We hope you enjoy some of our highlights of the last year, from her first day with us to her first time in the snow a month ago.

All the best,
Kristen, Luis, and Twyla :)”

Your support helps us have the resources to care for dogs like Twyla until we can find the perfect home that will continue to help them learn to thrive.

Donate today.

Jan Steiner
Homeward Pet Adoption Center

Please vote for Jan by September 5 at visit.mudbay.com/vae

Homeward Vet recognizes your United States military service by providing a fee-waived adoption of any available cat, dog, kitten, or puppy at Homeward Pet Adoption Center. Adoption also includes a certificate for a free pet exam one year after adoption.

Please complete this form when you visit Homeward Pet during adoption hours. After your adoption counselor has helped you find an animal who is a good fit for you, present this form to have their adoption fee waived. This program is made possible through private donations to thank military veterans for their service. Please note that animals adopted from Homeward Pet are not service animals.

If you have additional questions about this program or Homeward Pet’s adoption process, please visit this page for more information on adoption or call (425) 488-4444.

This Give Big month, we are focusing on the medically fragile animals that need us the most.

Thanks to your support, we are one of the few shelters in our area that have been able to continue to take in animals with more severe medical needs during these stressful years.

Oscar is one of those animals.

Oscar, a 5-year-old dachshund, walked into Homeward Pet with a small limp, a wagging tail, and a heart full of love.

After an initial medical check, we discovered Oscar had a long list of medical challenges, and would need multiple surgeries to improve his quality of life. Some things could be helped right away, like his rashy, sore skin, painful teeth, and nutritional deficiencies. Other things would take more time and several surgeries. 

Knowing he’d be with us for a while, the clinic secured him a foster home experienced in recovery care to keep him comfortable between procedures.  

Oscar is healing from his first few rounds of treatments, but has to undergo a more invasive surgery to give him a permanent fix for his chronic and painful ear infections. Oscar has continued to be sweet and gentle despite the discomfort and pain of all of the invasive procedures. We all believe that he knows we are trying to help him. When our own Dr. Tina was not able to relieve his suffering by resectioning his right ear canal, we knew we had to seek additional care for our happy little man. Our veterinarians don’t have the equipment to conduct the surgery ourselves, we are thankful to our partners who are capable. 

Oscar’s next surgery is estimated to cost up to $15,000. He will be undergoing a Total Ear Canal Ablation (TECA) on his left and right ear. This intensive procedure requires a Board-Certified Veterinary Surgeon trained in specialty surgeries. Thankfully, there is one local to the shelter, otherwise the surgery couldn’t happen. With the help of our Whoopi’s Fund for Animals with Special Needs, funded by generous donors like you, we are able to afford help for Oscar.

Oscar is a rarity in the severity of his needs. We do not give up just because we have a challenging case. Your gifts ensure that more dogs and cats with special medical requirements will receive whatever level of treatment they need now and in the future.  345 animals benefited from essential and life altering medical care because of Whoopi’s Fund in 2021 alone! These medical interventions were made possible by generous supporters like you, and have ensured that each animal could live the rest of their life with less pain, less worry and in a loving and warm home.  

We are grateful for the donors that have allowed us to say yes to helping Oscar.

Please donate today so that Oscar, and other sick and medically challenged animals, can continue to get the help they need; so that they are gifted with the time and resources to heal before being adopted.