Vintage Pet Rescue ~ KANE’S KORNER

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In 2018 Alex Petrarca, Operations Manager of Vintage Pet Rescue fell in love with a senior dog named Franklin (pictured to the right) at a Vintage Pet Rescue fundraising event. Kane has heard of love at first sight but he asked to see a picture of Franklin since he had such a mesmerizing effect on Alex. Well Alex was right, Franklin rest his soul, was a very handsome senior in need of a good home.

It seems in 2018 Alex and Franklin struck gold, when they found each other. Since laying eyes on Franklin, Alex worked in a volunteer capacity at the rescue and currently serves as the Operations Manager. Kane found Alex to be a very positive and enthusiastic interviewee.

Franklin’s story of finding a loving home to live out his senior years speaks to the mission and passion of Vintage Pet Rescue. Often time. the rescue is the last resort for many senior dogs. Senior dogs are a very specialized niche group and the need is tremendous.

Unfortunately seniors are frequently overlooked at shelters by potential adopters and in the southern high kill shelters, with limited space, are put to sleep. Animal shelters can also be scary and loud for senior dogs. Kane knows his local shelter has placed a couple of senior dogs at Vintage Pet Rescue because they were nervous being around the current larger and louder dogs. This made Kane sad to think many senior dogs were not awarded the opportunity to live out their older years on a comfortable couch with a loving family.
Vintage Pet Rescue is a 501C3non – profit founded by Kristen and Marc Peralta, who met in an animal shelter in 2013. (vintagepetrescue.org)

They are committed to rescuing “vintage pets” from shelters and assisting owners who can no longer care for their pets. The animals in their care receive medical attention and love for the last months or years of their life. The rescue runs 100% on the generous donations of the community and the dedication of volunteers.

Kane was amazed to learn about a retirement home for senior dogs. At times, the home has up to 30 residents waiting to be adopted. The rescue also has in their care special needs dogs.

Kane remembers watching Joey, a special needs dog challenged with mobility issues, in the puppy bowl this year on his TV. Joey was a famous resident of the Vintage Pet Rescue family.

Kane learned that the rescue has nonstop requests for seniors that need placement and care. Originally the rescue was exclusively the cage free retirement home. As Vintage Pet Rescue grew, they expanded to a strong adoption network allowing the seniors to live out their golden years with a family.

Every week new dogs come into the rescue including dogs on transports from Texas and Mississippi, local shelters, and private citizens unable to care for their senior pet. Alex explained that human senior citizens sometimes do not have options for pet care when they need to enter assisted care. Many facilities do not allow pets. Alex explained with pride that this is a population that Vintage Pet has been able to assist. Kane found this very touching.

Kane would encourage you to visit the Vintage Pet Rescue Website. Alex explained the rescue is regularly looking for adopters, and donations. As you can imagine senior pets have many medical needs.

Donations can be made through the the website vintagepetrescue.org or Venmo at @vintagepetrescue.

Kane wishes all the pups at vintage pet rescue a happy retirement, good food, and a loving family. Thank you, Vintage Pet Rescue, for all you do!

Woof , Kane Peaslee, Columnist Valley Patriot ◊