Spirited Shelter Dog Thor, Adopted After Months, Returned To Shelter

BRANFORD, CT —Patch first told you about pup Thor, who'd waited many months for someone to free him from his animal shelter cage and take him home. Thor watched for more than 120 days as pet after pet left their cages to go to forever homes.

Then, a big break for him.

In mid-June, he was finally adopted. It was a great day at the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter and an even bigger day for the vaccinated, microchipped and neutered two-year-old cattle dog-English setter mix.

That was June 17.

Wednesday afternoon, some sad news from the shelter.

"We have the unfortunate news of informing you that Thor was returned .

Even after we had the person meet Thor 7 times before he went home … even after the trainer met with them multiple times at the shelter before he ever went home , even after we made sure Thor had a fenced in yard at his new home to get some of his energy out in , even after the trainer went to the house to talk about Thor’s needs .

Thor was returned for all of the reasons we have been stating to everyone that was interested in adopting him and came to visit or called about him . He’s high energy , hyper , needs lots of direction , training , exercise - Thor is the dog that will jump on your kitchen table , grab your hand to get your attention, run while on leash trying to chase cars and just takes quite a bit to settle down. He needs training and he’s been working on training through the shelter but unfortunately kennel life adversely affects Thor .

As a matter of fact - we received an email from a potential adopter of Thor’s before he got adopted which stated that we gave too much negative information about the dog .
Basically insinuating that we were not “ selling the dog properly “ to potential adopters .

We tell people what we know about the animals while they are with us . We tell people when dogs need a lot of training , dedication , time and energy or when they are just couch potatoes . We cannot tell you how dogs or cats will actually behave once they are in the home - this is a shelter setting . Dogs coming out of the kennel are at times hyper , excited , jump , are mouthy and just rambunctious .

Why do we go into such details with people interested in adopting BECAUSE we don’t want them returned .. because we don’t want the dog to go through a depression because they are brought back , because we don’t want the dog to come back and to go kennel crazy because they don’t understand why they are here again .

So we will say this … maybe people don’t like or understand that we give both the negatives and the positives .. maybe people think we should just be here to “sell” animals to anyone who is interested… but lucky for people with all of their thoughts - they aren’t the ones to see the animals desperate and depressed little furry faces as you walk through the shelter door after they are returned .

Even after we told his adopter everything we could we still failed Thor and he was returned .

We are so sorry buddy ..."

Original story:

Thor waits and waits. But no one ever comes. It's been more than 100 days in. He watches as his shelter mates leave with their new families. But no one shows up for him. He's sad, the staff at the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter shared.

"After thousands of shares and a few applications, there’s still no one for Thor," the Facebook post reads. "People filled out applications and sound so interested, but then never show up to meet him. Thor continues to watch other dogs get adopted, but still he sits here day after day. He needs a home. He needs people to both apply and show up to do meet and greets."

Young and healthy, he was born to breed. Then what?

"He was brought into this world from a backyard breeder just so they could make money. Once he was sold, his people didn’t think about the next 18 years of what life would look like with a dog, and he became 'too much' and ended up here," the animal shelter post reads. "It’s just not fair."

Thor is a vaccinated, microchipped and neutered two-year-old cattle dog-English setter mix.
"He’s nearing 102 days," staff wrote on June 9, "dealing with shelter life. He’s sad and he’s had enough."

One of the first times folks met Thor virtually, was in early March when the shelter shared his story. A month later, in April, another try on Facebook to find him a home. Nothing. In May, the same.

It's June. He's still waiting, hoping.

The ideal home for Thor would be with family who ideally have a fenced in yard (he has a ton of energy and does 'zoomies'), enjoy the outdoors, like hiking, with active middle school-age kids or older, and maybe a cat —"He’s met cats and done really well."

At the very least, it's hoped that an application comes in that leads to a meet and greet.
If you are interested in adopting please fill out an application at www.Branfordanimalshelter.org