Saving Lives One Dog at a Time

Eight dogs were slated for death Saturday at one of the state's largest animal shelters.

All eight are now in loving homes.

How did that happen? Through a lot of hard work on the part of lots of people, and in large part, through the power of Facebook.

And that's not an anomaly for the City of Hartford's Animal Shelter -- every day, the shelter's animal control officers, including ACO Sherry DeGenova, with their volunteers and more than 12,000 Facebook followers, work furiously to find homes for the never-ending parade of canines that cross their path. The result has been a dramatic drop in euthanizations — now, only rarely is an adoptable dog put down.

For some adoptions, such as one here last year that brought a Nebraska man to Hamden Animal Control, there are several pieces that have to fall into place to be successful. And for the most part, the process starts through social media.

Sadie was at Hamden Animal Control for almost a year before Charlie Cifarelli drove half way across the country to save her life just in the nick of time, as she had been scheduled to be put down that week.

Hamden Animal Control can't adopt to anyone out of state, so in order for Cifarelli to adopt Sadie, she had to be pulled by a local rescue. Enter New Haven-based Angel Capone Pit Bull Rescue.

"Basically someone sent us word about Sadie's time being up. We networked and networked for a foster to no avail, as at the time everyone thought she was dog aggressive," said Racquel Trapp of Angel Capone, named for Trapp's late pit bull Capone.

But, as it turned out, that label didn't fit Sadie at all, she said. After she checked out Cifarelli s references and decided he was the perfect fit, she went the next day and pulled Sadie, Trapp said. She then had the dog examined by a vet and groomed before she sent her on her way to her new home in Nebraska with Cifarelli.
The whole rescue came together though social media.

"Facebook has been a great assistance to this rescue," Trapp said. "When we first started this rescue, I did not know a thing about Facebook. I was told to join it by a fellow animal rescuer." 

Since joining Facebook, about two years ago adoptions have increased about 50 percent, Trapp said. But more adoptions isn't the only perk the social media site has provided — it's also brought support from around the world, she said.

"Even those that are as far as Germany now help support these homeless dogs, by buying them something off our wish list, and this is something we did not have before Facebook," she said. "To a dog in a foster home or boarding facility, something like a vibration collar for a deaf dog, or high quality dog food for a medical case for seniors impacts their well being for life. 

"These are things, that without our Facebook fans, most of these dogs would go without. People are now able to help our dogs from all over the world," Trapp said. 

Between Facebook and the support of celebrities like Shorty "Pit Boss" Rossi, and Cesar Millan, both of whom have recently supported Angel Capone, the rescue is making strides each day, she said. 

"We have the most loyal and supportive fans," she said. "We are pulling dogs from abusive situations, or from being euthanized in overcrowded city shelters like Bridgeport, and getting them all healthy and adopted out in homes with loving families in the Hamptons, or Greenwich.  A lot of these home's I wish would adopt me!"