After more than four years in the Shandaken animal shelter, a pit bull named Cass has found a home with a Greene County couple and their housemate. Cass and his new dog buddy, LB, play tug-of-war, share their toys, and snuggle up to sleep together.
“We really miss him,” said dog control officer Nancy Hudler, “but we’re happy he’s in a good home. We get pictures on a daily basis.”
Cass, short for Casanova, was less than a year old when he came to the shelter from a home where he wasn’t being treated well in 2015. At first, he was withdrawn and scared, said Hudler. “He’d been kept a lot of the time in a cage, and the man would kick the cage. But working with him, giving him love and attention, just turned him right around.”
Assistant dog control officer Tom Rinaldo walks and feeds the shelter dogs daily, with help from community volunteers. “Cass is fairly big,” said Rinaldo. “He’s enthusiastic and lively, and he likes to bark.” The few people who expressed interest in adoption were not good candidates for keeping up with a high-energy dog.
When Bill Capel of Halcott Center drove past Rinaldo walking Cass along Route 28, he noticed the dog looked almost exactly like his own LB. Later, he learned Cass lived at the shelter behind the Shandaken town h all and was available for adoption. Capel went to check him out.
“Basically we know, from what today is labeled as a pit bull, there was no chance he’d probably ever get adopted,” said Capel. “We’ve had LB since he was eight weeks old. We thought, let’s see if we can give him a playmate and give Cass a forever home.”
Capel had successfully adopted a shelter dog a decade ago, and he had good references from vets and people in the community. He visited the shelter to feed Cass, and then accompanied the dog and Rinaldo on walks, eventually taking over the leash. It was clear Capel had the ability to take good care of Cass.
Would the two dogs bond? Cass and LB were brought to the dog park in Glenbrook Park on Route 42, where the two adjoining enclosures are divided by a fence. In their first leashed encounter through the fence, said Rinaldo, “LB was hyper-excited. Cass was interested but relatively calm. Next time at the dog park, we let them get close enough to smell noses.” Over the course of several visits, the two dogs were gradually given more freedom to interact.
Now, said Capel, “After they eat dinner, we have to put our feet up on the couches because it’s time for the boys to play. They get out all their toys and they play and wrestle from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. or 8. They’re brothers.”
There’s still one dog at the shelter, which has always had at least one occupant in the six years Rinaldo has been working there. Lola, a Labrador mix, was picked up as a stray. “She’s a bit territorial about space and food,” Rinaldo said, “so she needs a conscientious adopter who will monitor her behavior with other people. We love her. She prances on two feet when dinner is coming.”
Most dogs brought to the shelter are simply lost, and get reconnected to their owners within two or three hours. The rare longer-term resident is not hard to find a home for if it’s a young, tail-wagging golden retriever. Dogs like Cass and Lola are more of a challenge.
But three weeks after taking Cass into his home, said Capel, “We feel it’s the best thing we’ve ever done.”
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