CHARLOTTE, N.C. — November is National Senior Pet Month, a month to raise awareness for caring for our senior furry friends.
Heather Van Schelt is a volunteer and a full-time foster with the Greater Charlotte SPCA.
"The dogs live with me in my home and I help with admin duties behind the scenes,' Van Schelt explained.
Van Schelt said she began fostering after moving from Illinois to Charlotte in 2011. She said they were missing their dog that had passed away and so she got involved with another rescue at that time.
"I worked with them for about two years and we left and found the Greater Charlotte (SPCA) so I've been with them for about seven years now," Van Schelt said.
Currently, Van Schelt has two senior pets at her home that are looking for a forever home, Pace and Lola.
Pace, 8, is a German Shepard Hound Boxer mix and was, sadly, just returned to their rescue. Van Schelt said his owners had to return him due to economic reasons.
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"He is now eight and arthritic and has to take a daily pill for pain and to just kind of get around," Van Schelt said.
Van Schelt said it's especially important to adopt senior pets right now because, with the pandemic, animal shelters are overwhelmed.
"So it's almost like a shopper market," Van Schelt said. "There are so many dogs out there and so many puppies and people are just overlooking these older senior dogs."
Another dog in Van Schelt's care, 9-year-old Lola, was returned to them about a year ago because she developed a lot of OCD issues including separation anxiety.
"So they dropped her off at my house one night," Van Schelt explained. "We found out quickly about her OCD issues."
Van Schelt said after working with Lola for about a year, she can see a vast improvement.
"She's just not getting to the point where you can pick her up," Van Schelt said. "She's actually been integrated into my pack."
Van Schelt said by adopting a senior dog, you're saving three lives.
"You're saving and placing in a good home a good dog, and then we get to pull from a shelter or our waitlist and then they get to pull in another dog or take a dog off the euthanasia list," Van Schelt explained.
Van Schelt explained that senior dogs are great pets because most of the time, all they want to do is cuddle.
"You don't have to worry about really long walks, and in Pace's case, he loves to come outside and lay down," Van Schelt said.
Contact Meilin at mtompkins@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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