Joey is so special that everyone he meets immediately falls in love with him. This five-year-old pit bull spent over 500 days at the shelter for no logical reason, but that’s exactly what happened, through no fault of his own. The adorable pup quickly became a staff darling. So when Joey’s family showed up in his dream life, the staff knew they had to spoil him in the best possible way.
The team always wants the dogs at the shelter to know how much they are loved. So we held a special farewell ceremony to let the dogs know how much they mean to us and to make sure they go happy to their new homes,” said Kimberly LaRussa, Founder of Sweet Buffalo to the Rescue. For one of the oldest residents, the farewell party was special.
„We wanted to give Joey a calm and relaxing goodbye, so we wanted to put a flower lei on him and give him some food as a gesture of goodwill,“ LaRussa said. It was really nice to see him at the end of the farewell ceremony with all the juice he had collected.” You can watch Joey’s farewell ceremony here.
When Joey arrived at the shelter as a former stray, no one expected this sweet dog to still be there more than a year later. But once neglected, no one was interested in adoption, and the endless wait eventually wore Joey down. He adapted as best he could,” La Russa said. Former employees and volunteers liked him very much. But over time we saw that he wanted more than we could give him – a warm bed, his mummy at night, his own people to love him with.” When La Russa saw the sad pup crying and looking desperate in his crate, he decided to take matters into his own hands, recording a short video with Joey and posting it on social media. Suddenly he had an interest. But one couple in particular stood out: Derryl Koczaj and Melissa Leuer.
„I remember watching his video over and over again, crying and thinking someone needs to help this poor boy,“ Melisa Leuer said. I didn’t know it would be us.“ LaRussa arranged a meeting between Joey and the potential adopters and an immediate connection was made. “We fell in love as soon as we met – he was so cute!” Ruel said. He ran up to Durrell and gave him lots of kisses. We felt he was ready for us, as if he had been waiting for us to be ready for him.” Although Joey needed a few days to adjust to his new life, he is now the biggest hugger and greets each day with a smile. „Joey is still as wonderful as the day we adopted him,“ Lehrer said. He brought so much laughter and joy to our family. We look forward to making more memories with him and giving him the perfect life he always deserved. We really couldn’t have asked for a better dog!”
