Pippy’s future was unknown.
The seven-year-old dog was given away when her senior owner had to move from her home and into a place that didn’t accept dogs.
However, thanks to a local organization, the part-terrier was placed with a new family.
The dog was turned over to the P.E.I. branch of ElderDog Canada, which then contacted Joan Atkinson of Guernsey Cove to see if she was in the market for another pet.
As it turns out, she was.
Atkinson and her husband, Lonnie, wanted another dog to keep their elderly dog company, but they didn’t want a puppy.
“I just wasn’t ready to go through puppyhood,” Atkinson said during the Pawd in the Park awareness and fundraising event at Victoria Park on Oct. 15.
“To get a puppy is hard work, and it’s not just a lot of work for a few months, it's a two-year project.”
ElderDog Canada is a community-based, non-profit organization with a mission to assist and support older adults in the care and well-being of their canine companions.
The P.E.I. branch began in 2014 under the leadership of Ruth Courtney-Beck.
“(Seniors) are more apt to stay in their own home if they have a dog. We do the in-home care, so we’ll help with walking and getting them to veterinary appointments, doing light grooming, getting them to or from care.” - Ruth Courtney-Beck
Since senior dogs are harder to place, the organization takes senior dogs – or takes dogs from seniors who, for whatever reason, can no longer care for them – and finds them new owners, Courtney-Beck said.
In cases where seniors just need a bit of help in order to keep their dogs, ElderDog is there to provide assistance, as it’s important to keep pets with their senior owners whenever possible because it promotes mental health and stability, she said.
“(Seniors) are more apt to stay in their own home if they have a dog. We do the in-home care, so we’ll help with walking and getting them to veterinary appointments, doing light grooming, getting them to or from care.”
While the need was there to help senior citizens, the organization saw there was also a need to help elderly dogs that were “pining away in shelters” because people don't want older dogs, she said.
“They want puppies and people don’t need puppies, they are a lot of work,” she said. “The older dogs are the diamonds.”
P.E.I. Pawd volunteer Kelly Mullaly said the organization is looking to expand the pool of volunteers, potential foster homes and adopters and wants to get word out about the organization’s Island presence.
“We’re here, we have screened, trained, free volunteers. It’s not a service you have to pay for. It’s safe to allow the people to come into your home to help you.”
For more information, visit Elderdog.ca or visit the ElderDog P.E.I. Facebook page.
