Golden Paws
Photo by Greg ODonnell
For a variety of reasons, senior pets who should be enjoying their golden years with their families sometimes find themselves in our shelter, waiting for another chance. While these mature dogs and cats are likely already housetrained and used to life as a pampered pet, they usually wait longer in shelters than their younger counterparts. BEBHS encourages adopters to look beyond graying muzzles and discover the unique joys of sharing your life with an older pet. Read about Senior Pet adoption.
BEBHS launched our Golden Paws program in 2006 to spotlight senior pets and incent their adoption with reduced adoption fees (free for seniors 65+).
| Adoption Fees: | Senior Pets | Seniors for Seniors |
| Cats | $25 | $0 |
| Dogs | $75 | $0 |
Golden Paws Success Stories
When Sadie's family bought a new puppy, Sadie had a hard time adjusting to the rambunctious playstyle of her new housemate. Rather than seek out solutions, her family surrendered 10-year old Sadie to the local shelter. The staff at the municipal shelter fell head-over-heels in love with her, and when the shelter got full and ran out of room, they sought out another placement for this special girl. BEBHS took Sadie in, gave her the medical care she needed, and found a home for her. Sadie spends her days with a guardian who doesn't care that she is no longer a puppy, and would never dream of replacing her with a younger model.
The Queen had been in a municipal shelter for months when our feline staff found her and brought her to BEBHS. True to her name, The Queen is a big, beautiful cat who longed to be truly pampered. Living in a large cage in a shelter simply would not do! When The Queen arrived at BEBHS, she was given accomodations fit for royalty - a Catopia room all to herself. Worried that she would have a long shelter stay because of her age and history, the staff was amazed when The Queen was adopted within a week of arriving at the shelter. She is now living the good life in her own private "palace" with her new guardian.
When our canine staff discovered Georgia in a local municipal shelter, her soft brown eyes and gentle demeanor immediately won their hearts. Like so many animals in shelters, Georgia's history was unknown, but it was clear from her affectionate personality that this lovely lady had been in a home with people who had cared for her and given her lots of attention. Sweet Georgia waited for a home for almost a month before a local couple visited our Adoption Center, fell in love with her, and made her part of their family.
Snoopy and Miu Miu's guardian became so ill that she had to surrender her two 8-year old felines to us. As with many older felines, Snoopy and Miu Miu had a very difficult time in the shelter and were extremely shy when potential adopters came to see them. We were worried that finding them a new home would take a very long time, but eventually they overcame their shyness and loved to cuddle. Both cats have found perfect new homes for themselves and adore their new guardians as much as they adore them.
Boston's owner had suffered from an epileptic seizure and went to live with a sister who could not accommodate Boston. A concerned neighbor informed us that Boston had been taken to Berkeley Animal Care Services, where we retrieved him and brought him to our shelter. Boston had been loved, but wasn't up to date on his medical care. He was very overweight, had terrible dental disease and a host of other issues. We gave him arthritis medication, put him on a weight loss diet immediately, and he underwent some surgery and dental procedures. After several months of treatment and loving care at our Adoption Center, Boston found a wonderful forever home where he is adored by his new guardians.
Sophie was 12 years old when she got returned to our Adoption Center, where she first got adopted 11 years earlier. This sweet, gentle girl was a shy kitty and not very talkative, but she absolutely loved to be a lap cat. Sophie was with us for 3 months before getting adopted again. Sophie's new adopter had just moved to the area and was lonely and depressed being by herself. She came to BEBHS looking for a companion and when an adoption counselor told her Sophie had been returned and was also lonely and unhappy in the shelter, she decided that Sophie was the cat for her.
A portion of this program is funded by The Mark Ross Foundation.