Shelter helps facilitate reunion, off to busy start
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Pet Corner
Pets of the Week: These two shepherd mix boys came in to the shelter together as strays from the Hanover area. They are believed to be about 5 months old. They were brought in Tuesday and are currently on a mandatory 7-day stray hold. If they are not reclaimed by their owner or owners then they will be available for adoption after that time.
The Coosa County Animal Shelter may have had a relatively slow start during its first week, but it has been busy this week and has really hit the ground running! The shelter had a particularly busy day Tuesday with six dogs brought in that day alone.
The shelter now has dogs, cats and puppies housed there, with some on mandatory 7-day holds for strays and others available for adoption. Additionally, Scarlet, the shelter’s first resident who was featured last week, gave birth to seven adorable puppies. When the time is right, she and her puppies will be available for adoption or fostering.
The shelter had more exciting news this week, as well. A dog was brought in as a stray from the Stewartville area and given the name Iceman. It seemed that he had been living in the area for a good while and had area residents who would help with feeding him and being sure he had a warm place to sleep during the winter.
Thanks to those who helped take care of him and a couple who brought him into the shelter as a stray, he was able to be reunited with his family after a year and a half! What an amazing reunion! Thanks to seeing his picture on the shelter’s social media page, his owner immediately recognized him and was able to get him.
His owner, who said his name is actually Diamond, explained that she and her son had lived on County Line Road in 2020-2021. She said that after getting a divorce her ex-husband told her that Diamond had been fatally shot by someone. However, when she saw the social media post with his photo she “instantly knew it was him.”
His owner said that Diamond had been missing since June 2021 and that this whole time she thought he had been shot and was dead. However, on Tuesday she and her son were overjoyed to be able to reunite with their pet, who just had a birthday and turned 3 on January 29.
“This feels unreal; God is great,” Diamond’s owner said.
She also extends her gratitude to everyone involved in helping him survive the past year and a half. After getting him home Tuesday, she said Diamond had a good bath and slept in a warm bed that night, adding that he is just as happy as they are about finally being back home.
Her son said, “Diamond Ace Jones is here because y’all are genuine people. Forever in debt to y’all.”
Congratulations to this family on this wonderful reunion!
Originally, the shelter’s Pet of the Week was going to be a 6-and-a-half-year-old Australian shepherd named Merlin who was an owner surrender after the co-owner passed. However, in more happy news, Merlin was already scheduled to be adopted Wednesday. Congratulations and happy tails, Merlin!
The new featured Pets of the Week are currently on a 7-day stray hold, but will be available for adoption after Tuesday if they are not reclaimed by their owner or owners.
As of press time the pups were not given names by the shelter, but they are two shepherd mix boys who are estimated to be about 5 months old. They are both very sweet and friendly, and they were brought in on Tuesday as strays from the Hanover area.
The Coosa County Animal Shelter is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday. It is located in Stewartville at 5520 Coosa County Road 41, Sylacauga, 35151, next to the Water Authority building. The shelter can be reached at 256-369-1222.
With this being such a busy and exciting week for our newly established shelter, see next week’s column for guidelines regarding Responsible Pet Ownership Month.