Hello Romeo…Welcome to the Village

VILLAGE PET PAGES

By Joy and Brian Pape

Today in the Village. Kim now has Eddie, Pom, Snoopy and two foster dogs, Dabi and Bruni living with her. Dabi and Bruni are both available for adoption through Animal Haven in SoHo.

Last month we met Kim, Snoopy and Romeo and introduced them to you. Their story piqued our interest in learning more.

Kim didn’t have a pet growing up. At age 21, after studying abroad, she came home to take a summer job at a local mall. Her manager needed a home for her dog, Spike, who she kept in a crate and never walked. Fearing Spike would be killed at a shelter, Kim decided to rescue him. He was scrawny and funny looking and he could only walk on his front legs. He had a short back left leg and would have been considered a tripod, but Kim decided not to amputate. In time, with her loving care, Spike blossomed although he could never put that leg down. She took him to college in PA and he later moved to the city with her. “I realized how special he was and he had a lot of health issues,” she said. “At the time I didn’t have a lot of money but he was always my #1 priority.”

A few years later, she learned that an NYC rescue group was trying to foster a Chihuahua which she saw in a picture labeled ‘Code Red Deformed Hind Leg’. Kim thought, “OMG, I have to foster this dog. Spike wasn’t very happy at first, but he pulled it together. I named the new dog Eddie. He had been hit by a car but had not received medical attention. His back leg was completely mangled, like Spike’s. I didn’t give him up. He did have surgery to amputate four toes but not his leg.”

Then, when she was working in PR, a celebrity who was an animal lover asked her if she would take a Chihuahua on the kill list. Kim offered to foster the dog but told her, “I can’t keep her. Three dogs in NY is insane! The 14-year-old dog been in and out of animal control centers so many times. We knew because of her microchip scans. We named her Minnie and we kept her!”

Kim said, “I had struggled to find my purpose in life, but after taking in Minnie, I realized, fostering and rescuing dogs are my life purposes! It’s a privilege to love and be loved by a Senior Dog. I now volunteer at Animal Haven and I have now fostered about 50 dogs. I feel like I have like a ‘satellite shelter’; in other words, a stop before having their forever home.”

LEFT TO RIGHT: Minnie, Spike and Eddie.

Today Kim has Eddie, Pom, Snoopy and two foster dogs, Dabi and Bruni (both available for adoption through Animal Haven in SoHo). She also has Romeo, an eight-month-old kitten she rescued to help calm Snoopy who has dementia. He gets along with all the dogs and he loves to snuggle. Kim said, “It took me a few tries before I came up with the name Romeo …because he is a lover. Romeo cuddles with Snoopy at night.”