Boris is available at the PetSmart in West Bloomfield.

Boris is available at the PetSmart in West Bloomfield.

Because MHS does not have “time limits” on our adoptable animals, we occasionally end up with an animal that spends a significant amount of time on the adoption floor. There are many reasons for this – perhaps the dog has some medical issues, is older, does not “show well” in a kennel or a variety of other reasons that have caused people to pass by the pet and choose another to adopt.

We keep track of how long each animal has been with us, and once they hit a certain timeframe they are on our “watch list.” If an animal has been with us for an extensive amount of time, we want to know why, and what we can do to help them get adopted!

dwight

Dwight is available at the Petco adoption center in Sterling Heights.

We have multiple strategies to help these long-term animals get out and find loving homes. We will have staff put special notes on their cages, or pretty collars on them to help draw some attention. We will make sure their online photos are a great representative of them and visually appealing. We might post the animal on our social media pages and ask our fans to “share.” Sometimes we will move an animal to another of our locations so they have a different “audience” that is coming by to look at them each day.

For our “most” overlooked pets, we put them on the Overlooked Pets page. We monitor these pets and do everything we can to help them “get noticed.” Their adoption fees are reduced, they are shared on social media or made “Pet of the Week” on TV or in local publications.

While we certainly do the best we can to give our adoptable animals the highest quality care, we believe the best place for them is in a loving home with a forever family, and the “overlooked pets” program helps us reach that goal for all animals!