In the world of animal welfare, before and after photos mean so much to us because of the story they often tell. These captivating images tell a story of transformation. These transformations signify just how important a home environment is for these loving animals. Receiving updates and photos really inspire us at the Friendship Animal Protective League to keep pushing for animals to find homes, and hopefully inspire you to come in and adopt! 

For this story we will be looking at King’s transformation. King was surrendered by a woman who had a “change in lifestyle.” This meant King now was also going to have a change of lifestyle by going from a home to a shelter. King was at the shelter for six months. That’s 182 days in a kennel before a loving man came in and gave King a chance. King’s story isn’t that simple. When King originally came to us he seemed confused and wondered where his home was. His life had been turned upside down. King was a troublemaker at first but slowly started to adjust to the shelter life. King was high energy and active. He enjoyed adventures and being at shelter didn’t allow him to burn that energy. He was eager to get out of his cage, which at times meant being vocal and jumping up on his cage door as people passed him by. This often rubs potential adopters the wrong way. A month after coming into the shelter, we all thought King got the break he needed! He was adopted, but that victory for our staff and King was short lived when he was returned because the adopter no longer had time for him. Again, King’s world was flipped upside down due to no fault of his own.

King’s second stay with us was a lot more stressful on him. He was bored, struggling to exert his energy in a positive way and likely depressed. One thing remained true, and that was when he was out of the kennel environment with volunteers and staff, they had nothing but wonderful things to say about him. No animal should have to go through what King was, and in an effort to give him a break, King went to our GCI Prison Program. King thrived having a job, learning commands and bonding with a handler. When he came back, two months later, staff were eager to get him a home. With the help of staff member Madelyn who took King on outings, King started to look happier and a lot of his bound up energy from being in a shelter was expelled. 

When adoption day came for King on June 7th, staff were filled with immense joy. Nothing is better than seeing one of our longest residents finally going to their forever home. King’s adopters say he keeps them on their toes. After being home now for about a month, he has finally adjusted to his new routine. King is happy and that is all that matters to us. 

With dogs coming in and out of the shelter every day it’s hard to see a select few stay here for months losing hope. Thank you to all of our adopters who have given dogs like King a chance. His story goes to show that a dog’s temperament in a shelter is not always how they behave at home! And at times these behaviors and temperaments are a result of mental deterioration from their time spent here. What is even more unfair is that most of the time, similarly to King, dogs are brought here for no fault of their own. It’s time to start giving dogs like King a better chance at a deserving home life.