This will make your heart sing. After five long years of living in a Maine shelter, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier named Ginger has finally found a "furever" home. We'd like to think we had a little something to do with it. Serina Richardson reached out to us after she adopted Ginger from the Responsible Pet Care of Oxford Hills shelter. Serina told us she does not have a Facebook account and had not seen the national media coverage of Ginger, who was brought to the shelter as a stray in 2014, according to the shelter. Serina says if she had not received a newsletter with an article about the homeless dog from one of our radio stations, she would never have found Ginger. We are thrilled to have played a part in connecting these two soul mates. It sounds like it was meant to be.

We thought you would like to read her heartwarming email. It brought tears to our eyes…

I had to put my dog, Diamond, down in November 2017. I’d had her since she was 6 weeks old…it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. But she was 15 and it was time. People were constantly asking me when I was going to get another dog; but to be honest, I was enjoying the freedom — not having to go right home after work and being able to travel at the last minute whenever I wanted. I just wasn’t interested in getting another dog anytime soon.

Fast forward to December 28th 2018 when an e-mail popped up on my phone from you with the subject line ‘This Dog That’s Been in a Maine Shelter for 4 Years Still Hasn’t Found a Home Yet.’ It was certainly eye catching. I had to open it. How could a dog possibly be in a shelter for that long?! I open the e-mail and see this dog. This beautiful sweet faced dog who’s white as snow. I had to know more so I clicked on the story and started reading about Ginger. Reading her story brought me to tears. Her temperament sounded almost exactly like Diamond’s so I knew I could handle her. Was this really the reason she hadn’t been adopted? It didn’t make sense so I called RPC in South Paris and talked to Kelly. She asked me some questions and I told her my story about Diamond and being certain that I could handle the temperament Ginger had. I’m pretty sure I cried through the whole conversation. I didn’t know what had come over me, but all of a sudden I knew that I was going to save this dog.

The first time I drove up to meet Ginger I had no idea how high profile her case was. I had no idea there was a story posted in October about how long she’d been in the shelter that went viral and made national news. She was kind of a big deal! A local celebrity for sure! After the first meeting I was very hopeful that this would work out. But I had no idea just how long the process would actually take, and let me tell you, it was a process. There were concerns on the shelter’s end about making sure Ginger was being adopted out to the right person, and there was even a time in the middle of the whole thing when I thought about withdrawing my application because of the pressure I started feeling about giving Ginger the ‘perfect’ home. I talked to Kelly daily, and sometimes multiple times a day. She has been in Ginger’s corner since the start of this and her goal was to see her in the furever home she deserved. Kelly knew, even before I really did, that the home she belonged in was mine.

Everything happens for a reason and after multiple visits to the shelter, training exercises, and home visits I was finally able to officially adopt Ginger! She has been an absolute joy since the first day I brought her home. My mother is right in love with her and goes over daily to visit while I’m at work. Ginger is so sweet and gentle and smart. Man, is she smart! She listens well and is extremely well behaved when I’m gone. She is a snuggle bug and loves to play tug of war with her ropes. I’m constantly looking at her in disbelief that this is all real and we found each other like we did. There’s no doubt in my mind that this was meant to be.

So thank you. Because had it not been for that one email, on a day I was already home from work, I would have never known Ginger’s story and been able to save her.

The Responsible Pet Care of Oxford Hills also expressed joy for finding a forever home for Ginger on its Facebook page:

Here are some more pictures Serina sent us:

(Photo Credit: Serina Richardson/Used With Permission)
(Photo Credit: Serina Richardson/Used With Permission)
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(Photo Credit: Serina Richardson/Used With Permission)
(Photo Credit: Serina Richardson/Used With Permission)
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(Photo Credit: Serina Richardson/Used With Permission)
(Photo Credit: Serina Richardson/Used With Permission)
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