Zerra comes to visit

During my shift at the SPCA on Saturday (yesterday) we kept Zerra, an American Staffordshire Terrier, at reception with us for the day. She was NOT doing well. She'd be surrendered by her family a week before because they "didn't want to deal with her" any more.

Zerra was terrified to be in the shelter. She cowered in her kennel, stopped eating, and started getting bouts of diarrhea. She got spayed on Friday, and then spent the Saturday with us at reception. She didn't appear to be recovering from her surgery very well and simply laid shaking on a blanket for most of the day. We tried feeding her different treats but she wasn't interested in eating anything. She did perk up when new people came through the door and seemed to be especially interested in children.

She was the object of pity among the staff yesterday - she's just such a sorry sight. I called Mark to see if he could bring our own dog down to the shelter at the end of my shift and introduce them to each other. He did and they got along, so we took Zerra home with us for Saturday evening and most of Sunday.

There was an immediate change in her as soon as she walked through our door. The nervous shaking stopped and she contentedly explored the apartment. As soon as she'd looked in every room she returned to us and collapsed on the dog bed by our feet, stretching out happily.

She tried to "guard" her gigantic bed from our dog but we quickly corrected her and she stopped doing it. Arlo, who somehow knows that it's his job to socialize with these various animals we bring home, continued to slowly worm his way closer to her with a wag of his tail. By the end of the night they were both asleep on the dog bed together, and the next day she tried to cuddle up to him when he was lying down. Awww...

Zerra is just an absolute cuddle bug. She likes people and just wants to be near them. Poor thing! She hates being in the shelter and I feel bad that she has to go back tonight, but if she doesn't go back, her chances of being seen by the public and getting adopted to a forever-home decrease greatly.

She was so well behaved - she came with us to get coffee at a nearby plaza Sunday morning and had fun hanging out amongst all the bustle, and she didn't even care when a big dog ran right up to us on our walk. I know she'd make a great pet, but she looks miserable in the shelter and there's always that pit bull stigma. Let's keep our fingers crossed for Zerra!