Posts by Laura Crouch

Mugzy with the Helicopter Tail

On June 16th 2013, Mugzy found his way to HSHV. Severely flea infested, his ears and eyes swollen shut. His HSHV medical records revealed that removing one or both of his eyes might be necessary. However, due to the dedicated and diligent care of HSHV veterinary staff and Mugzy’s cheerful disposition through it all, after entropian surgery on both eyes, Mugzy’s eyes improved immensely and he was released for adoption. My husband and I had been considering a companion for our eight year old Shar Pei, Luke. We were both working long hours and thought Luke may enjoy the company
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Living His Best Life

I woke up one day when I was 20 years old after having a dream about my childhood dog who had just passed away. Later that day I went to HSHV just to look, and ended up bringing home Pip, my best friend. That was almost 7 years ago now (November, 2015). Pip was at HSHV for over 20 days, and had been adopted and returned before I got him. Their loss! Pip has been the best thing that ever happened in my life, and everyone who meets him absolutley loves him. He has brought so many smiles and so
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Ernie Escapes Envigo!

We had a beloved beagle rescue for 12 years, after finding him as a stray. During this time, we would talk about rescuing a beagle used for research at some point in our lives but were perfectly happy with our little Cooper dog. Sadly, he passed in June. Soon after he died, the news broke of the 4,000 beagles being rescued in Virginia and needing new homes. While our hearts were not ready to adopt at that time, we knew we would love to adopt one of these pups at some point. When 15 beagles were brought through the Love
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Foster Fail After 8 Months

Ren had been at the shelter for 8 months and was starting to shut down and was not a happy dog. As an HSHV volunteer dog walker and foster, I convinced my husband to bring Ren for a short shelter break. That break turned into an eight month foster. It took Ren over a week to decompress from being in the shelter environment. Then it took about another three weeks for him to settle in and adjust to our home routine. We slowly introduced him to our HSHV alum dog Maddie (who is dog selective) by doing “buddy walks” and
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The most spoiled baby

My husband promised I could have a dog if we got a house with a yard, so we found one ASAP! Before the final box was unpacked, I took him to HSHV and was surprised by the Love Train. He and I split up and he told me multiple times that he wasn’t sure, had never had a dog before, etc. He eventually found me playing with a very shy and overwhelmed pupper named Jade. He stepped into the playpen with us and she lit up, snuggling right into him and letting us play with her. I was ready to
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Wiggety Wags!

We came across this shy guy hiding in his bottom corner cage, afraid to come to us. Catapalooza was the event that brought us to the shelter, so many babies needing homes. Lots of cats to choose, we were drawn back to that little shy guy, had him brought out to a visiting for us to meet and we’ve been family for 12 years now. Love our little Wags!❤️ Snowflake now Wags
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…And she became a princess!

We adopted Phoenix about 6.5 years ago. She was a Love Train dog, and all we knew was she was from AL. Myself and my daughters spent all day at shelters looking for a dog. We popped in to HSHV as our last stop. We did a walk thru and Phoenix picked us! She is the best dog ever! She travels all over with us. She camps and has been on tons of adventures. When she’s home she loves snuggles and long walks.
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My cat-dog, my perfect addition

Back in Feburary 2022 I was told by my co-worker that there was a 1 year old gray male cat (exactly what I said I wanted) at HSHV who I really needed to meet! He had just came in as a transfer from Detroit. After finishing up cleaning, I went and paid him a visit and he just melted into me. Just the sweetest guy, purring and making buscuits the whole time. I put on a hold right away, and after a few days and getting neutered he came home! He started out in my bathroom, and amazingly it really
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Loving dog finds his forever home

My granddaughter volunteers at HSHV. I had asked her to keep an eye out for a small poodle or Bichon. It was only a short time when she texted that a little boy poodle was in the shelter. I immediately went to see him and fell in love ❤️ We put him on hold and as soon as he was available his adoption was complete. We couldn’t be happier 😍 He is such a sweetheart and just what I was looking for I would recommend adoption as they are so many animals that need a home. The process was easy!
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Yue is truly the pick of the litter!

We applied for a Love Train puppy in December 2020, like seemingly everyone else, but had little luck. Then, in February 2021 quite unexpectedly, we lost one of our fur babies. We went to HSHV looking for a cat. We went several different days until one day, as we were walking out, we heard the front desk workers mention the “brand new puppies” which had just been released from foster care for adoption. We had to check them out. Honestly, it was love at first sight – we decided to adopt the most beautiful pup from a litter born on
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