Dog in Shelter for 800 Days Sits by Kennel Door All Day Hoping for a Family

A dog patiently waiting to live with his forever family has been holding onto hope for over 800 days with no end in sight.

This 3-year-old terrier mix named Munch has been residing at Bulverde Area Humane Society in Texas since September 2021. He was brought in as a stray with, luckily, no injuries. Someone found Munch running around and they checked if the shelter had room for him.

After finding no microchip or owner for Munch, the shelter decided to keep him. But over two years later, Munch is still living within the shelter walls.

"The problem we have with getting him adopted is that we feel he would flourish best if he were the only animal in the home," Penny LaFlam, dog coordinator at the Bulverde, told Newsweek.

The employees and volunteers find Munch to be a very sweet dog, but sometimes when Munch plays, he can get amped up and cannot control his energy. He would be best suited for a family with no other pets. But if there were to be another pet, there should be no small dogs or cats.

This limits Munch's adoption chances, as most adopters already have pets, LaFlam said. Plus, the shelter believes Munch needs to be with an experienced dog owner, someone who would understand him.

Another reason as to why Munch could still be with the shelter is that he looks like a pit bull, which often deters people from adoption.

LaFlam said there have been about 15 people who reached out in regards to Munch, one even coming from Australia. But, so far, only one seems like a good fit.

"We want to make sure where he does go, he does not have to come back," LaFlam said. "With him living here for two years and two months, we want it to be a good fit for him and a good fit for the family."

Despite all this time confined in the loud, anxious environment of shelter life, Munch still patiently waits to experience life outside the shelter by sitting by his kennel door. He's ever so hopeful that his forever family is out there.

Being a no-kill shelter means that Munch will be there for as long as it takes for him to get adopted. LaFlam said they have had dogs in the past living there for nine or 10 years until they finally got adopted.

The Bulverde shelter has 24 kennels in total. Of those 24, half are filled with dogs that have been living there for over a year, LaFlam said.

Each year, 6.3 million pets are surrendered to shelters in the United States, for an average of 17,260 a day, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Around 920,000 surrendered animals are euthanized every year. Shelters are striving to minimize euthanasia rates by promoting adoption campaigns, spaying and neutering programs, and behavior rehabilitation.

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