Mia was rescued from unsuitable living conditions when she was only 9 days old and taken to the RSPCA. She spent her first six months in a foster home but ended up back at the shelter after having some issues with her foster family’s dog. Ever since then, she’s been waiting at the shelter for someone to choose her.
“Sadly, as Mia was just a tiny puppy when she came to us, she’s spent almost her entire life in kennels,” Claire Hoffman, one of Mia’s caretakers at the RSPCA’s Southridge Animal Centre, said in a press release.
She’s now spent four years and four months at the shelter, over 32 years in dog years. She’s watched 1,596 other animals at Southridge get adopted while she waits. Still, her friends at the shelter won’t let her give up hope.
“She had such a challenging start to life and, despite her early experience of awful living conditions, we’ve shown her as much love as we can, and she’s grown into a really lovely dog,” Hoffman said. “But living in kennels for such a long time is no life for a dog like her, and we believe she may, sadly, be the RSPCA’s longest-staying resident.”
No one has even asked about Mia in a very long time, and the people who know her have a hard time understanding why. Mia does have a few requirements that need to be met in her future home, but her people are confident that the perfect home for her is out there somewhere.
“She needs someone who is experienced with dogs and can dedicate time to her training, and we believe she’s best suited to an adult home where there won’t be any children visiting and where she’ll also be the only pet,” Hoffman said. “We’d really like her to have a secure garden where she can play with her football and enjoy roaming.”
Anyone interested in adopting Mia would also need to visit her a few times to build trust before taking her home. Mia is an incredibly intelligent dog, who would enjoy learning tricks and playing games in her new home, and she’ll also need time and space to decompress.
Mia’s friends at the shelter have done everything they can to get her ready to be adopted. Now, she just needs to find her person.
“What she really needs now is an owner who can give her the one-to-one time and attention she deserves, and can help her adapt to life in a home,” Hoffman said.
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Source: Los Angeles Times (edited)
