LEXINGTON – Approximately one year ago, John and Linda Brown met a beagle pup named Tess who quickly wiggled her way into their lives. For Linda, their meeting still feels like just yesterday.
“I had gone over to Relax, It’s Just Coffee to get a cup of coffee, and the minute I looked at her…I don’t mean to sound dramatic, but it was like she jumped right into my heart,” Linda said. “She was very friendly and just beautiful. I knew she was going to be my pet.”
Linda met Tess while she was being fostered by the team at Richland Source through the Humane Society of Richland County’s “Home for the Holidays” program. Tess only stayed with the Richland Source staff for one week before she was scooped up by the Browns.
It was the perfect scenario for Missy Houghton, director of the Humane Society of Richland County. Typically, approximately 75 percent of foster owners for the “Home for the Holidays” program end up adopting the pets they foster.
“That’s really our goal,” Houghton said. “People might see it’s not as difficult as they thought, or they’ve really fallen head-over-heels for this animal.”
Just one day after Linda met Tess at Relax, she and her husband John were in the Richland Source offices to meet their new pup. It didn’t take long for them to get attached.
“She jumped up on me and was kissing me, and did all that stuff to suck us right in,” John said with a laugh.
John and Linda Brown had previously owned a cocker spaniel before Tess, who passed away a number of years ago from natural causes. Ever since their youngest daughter left for college, the Browns have been empty nesters. All that changed when Tess moved in.
“She’s been a great addition,” Linda said. “She’s changed our lives for the better, in so many ways. It’s a more peaceful household with her in it.”
According to their vet, the Browns estimate Tess to be two years old. They’ve declared a day in October as her birthday, which was met with a celebration including special treats and party hats with the Browns’ grandchildren.
“She’s my buddy all the time,” John said. “If I’m sitting here, she’s up here on my lap. She forces you to exercise, too; I spend so much time walking her up and down the street, especially in the summertime.”
The walks were especially fun when Tess first joined the Brown family. Many of their neighbors recognized Tess from her coverage in Richland Source.
“There are a lot of people that read it online, and when we started telling people where she came from they knew right away,” John said.
The Browns’ daughter and grandchildren promised to help care for Tess should John and Linda decide to adopt her. Since then, Tess has been shared between the two families.
“They love her and she loves them,” Linda said. “They are 11 and 15 years old, and they are the perfect age for Tess.”
“Every time we take her up there we’re afraid they’re going to steal her,” John joked. “Our granddaughters absolutely love her, they spend all day with her when she’s up there.”
The addition of Tess into their home has inspired the Browns to endorse adopting a pet for anyone thinking of adding a furry friend to the family.
“I would encourage people before considering a purebred cutie pie to at least take a look at the dogs that are available, because they’re homeless through no fault of their own,” Linda said. “I think most people will be richly rewarded once you have the satisfaction of taking in an animal off the street and into your heart.”
The “Home for the Holidays” program at the Humane Society of Richland County is the perfect test environment for people thinking of adopting an animal. Approximately 20 dogs and 40 cats are currently available for adoption and fostering at the Humane Society.
According to Houghton, the requirements for fostering a pet with the Humane Society are the ability to provide an animal food and care, the animal is living in a pet-friendly environment, and any existing pets in the home are fixed and healthy.
“We ask they they come in, fill out an application and be approved, and be willing to keep the animal through the first week of January,” Houghton said.
If the animal does come back to the shelter after the fostering period, Houghton asks foster owners to give a report help the Humane Society better understand an animal’s temperament in a home environment. If the foster owner decides to adopt their animal, adoption fees are reduced by $50 for dogs and $25 for cats.
“So far we’ve only sent out two animals, but both of the dogs that went out were our two long-term residents who’d been here for almost a year,” Houghton said. “We were really happy with that.”
In the four years since the program started, “Home for the Holidays” has been particularly popular during the season of giving.
“Around the holidays people are more open to volunteering and more open to being charitable, so a lot of people will do that,” Houghton said. “Some people don’t want to foster but they’ll offer to volunteer on Christmas Day or ask for a list of items to buy for the shelter. It’s a fun time of year.”
For the Browns, adopting Tess made the holidays extra special last year.
“I’m telling you, at the end of the day she was the best Christmas present we could ever have,” Linda said.
