This week’s featured dog is Dede, a petite pit bull mix. She looks to be part hound and is just a baby still at six-twelve months old. She has the most endearing face and sad eyes, but honestly she is a happy, social girl.

Little Dede was found running loose on the streets all by herself and was brought into the ACCT shelter on October 13, 2011. When she came in, she was totally emaciated and weighed only 20 pounds! She also had a horrible case of fleas, which caused some hair loss on her back. Since she’s been at the shelter, Dede looks so much better. She has put on a few pounds and her fur is coming back in.

Despite having a rough start in life, Dede is a happy, friendly girl. Rather than getting depressed at the shelter, she has actually brightened over time. It’s so sad to know that the shelter is probably the best ‘home’ she’s ever had. But now she has a chance to start over.

Dede adores people and although she’s a bit submissive, she gets very excited to have people’s company. She approaches you with her head timidly low and her tail wagging like crazy! When you sit with her, she will try to snuggle up against you as close as she can get or climb into your lap for love and warmth. Even though Dede was pretty much starving when she came to the shelter, she takes food very gently and has no food aggression at all. She is a pleasant mannerly girl who never barks, whines, or growls.

Dede seems to be good with other dogs too. She was introduced to one of her shelter mates and she was very social and appropriate with him. She also has met other dogs while outside with her volunteer friends and she approaches them the same way she does people – timid yet very excited to say hello and interact.

If you would like to meet Dede and you have small children or other dogs, please bring them with you so they can meet Dede too. If you have cats, the shelter staff will test her to see how she reacts to them as well. You can’t help but love this dog and want to take care of her. For more information please email: Help4PhillysHomelessAnimals[at]gmail.com or stop by the shelter (111 W. Hunting Park Avenue, tel.: 267-385-3800).

Piggy is a 3-5 year-old terrier mix being fostered for the ACCT by West Philly resident Meagan Coneeny. Through no fault of her own, Piggy was surrendered to the shelter by her family when they were unable to keep her. She must have had a happy home, because she is one of the happiest and most good-natured dogs.

Piggy is a playful and energetic girl, and she loves to play and go for runs and walks, but she’s also very understanding when you need to stay in all day and work, and is very mellow in the house. All she wants to do is cuddle with you all day – she has absolutely no body handling issues. You can hug and squeeze her and give her belly rubs and she just loves it! This is a good sign that she would do well in a house with children. She has been gentle with the few children she has met while she’s been staying with Meagan.

Piggy has been living with two cats and is very good with them. She is friendly, but does not focus or fixate on them. She will curl up next to the older cat in the house sometimes and they will sleep together happily for hours. She is not very food motivated (and never shows food aggression), and has never stolen food or been otherwise destructive in her foster house. She even leaves the cat food alone! Piggy is well housetrained and crate-trained, and is very good with sitting and waiting. She pulls a bit on the leash, but is improving every day.

Piggy is a little picky with her doggie friends, so if you are interested in adopting her and already own a dog, you should schedule a dog meet to see how they get along. Sometimes her energy level can be a little intimidating to other dogs, although there are a few very mellow dogs that she gets along well with.

Please adopt this wonderful girl today! She is healthy, spayed, and up to date on her vaccines, so she is totally ready to go. She would be a fantastic addition to any family – prepare to be loved unconditionally by happiest dog in the universe!

Piggy needs a forever home before Thanksgiving!

Please contact Meagan Coneeny at mconeeny[at]vet.upenn.edu with questions or for more pictures. Adoption information can be found online at http://www.acctphilly.org/.

This week’s featured dog is Violet, a 6-12-month old female American Pit Bull terrier mix with a gorgeous black coat.

Violet ended up at the shelter after wandering the streets of Philadelphia for a while. She was picked up by a nice police officer who was hoping she’d find her family again. No such luck! But surely there is someone out there who would love to bring her home with them.

Violet loves the staff and volunteers at the shelter because they give her attention and treats! She’s relatively easy to walk on the leash and quickly learning new tricks. She did well in her behavior evaluation, but didn’t show much interest in toys or food, she just wanted to explore and get head scratches. She showed a little too much interest in cats so she probably shouldn’t live with them in her new foster or forever home. She did well in her dog meets, they said ‘hi’ and sniffed appropriately. If you have any dogs at home, please bring them in to meet Violet to make sure it’s a good match.

Unfortunately, Violet is currently on treatment for ringworm. Ringworm is a contagious fungal condition that is easily treatable with topical medication, but it can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months for a dog with ringworm to fully recover. Ringworm thrives on animals with suppressed immune systems (which can be caused by stress from being in the shelter), and heals more quickly on healthy, non-stressed dogs in home environments.

Violet is currently located at the ACCT shelter at 111 West Hunting Park Ave in Philadelphia. Adoption hours are 1 – 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. on weekends. If you are interested in fostering, please contact nsmith[at]pspca.org or jsweeney[at]pspca.org.

This week’s featured dog is Sandy, a one-to-two-year-old pit bull terrier mix.

She is pretty much the sweetest girl you’ll ever meet. And she’s not too shabby in the looks department either! She has a brindle coat, white markings on her face, and adorable little spots that her Pen Pal (that’s her special friend at the shelter who comes to hang out with her) refers to as her freckles. She has lively, bright eyes and a really friendly smile.

She already knows “sit,” and her Pen Pal is teaching her “down,” “stay,” and “give paw.” She’s a really smart girl and very treat-motivated, so she should learn those commands in no time! Besides, she really wants to make her people happy.

Sandy would love a nice, warm home where she can sit with you on the couch and give you gentle kisses! If you have a dog, that’s no problem — Sandy is not very picky about her friends. But you should probably bring them down to the shelter to meet her just in case to make sure that they get along. Sandy also loves kids and all people. She just needs someone to love her back.

A few days ago Sandy was featured on NBC 10’s Dog Day Saturday.

Sandy is available for foster or adoption at the Philadelphia Animal Control shelter (ACCT) at 111 W. Hunting Park Ave. For more information email her Pen Pal at: meredithkleiber [at] gmail.com

This week’s featured dog is Tulip O’Hare.

Tulip is currently living in the ACCT shelter. She desperately needs out of the shelter, as soon as possible. She is a full-grown, adult Pitbull mix (with a sweet baby face!) and was found wandering Philadelphia, but was probably owned before since she was obviously well-fed. However, days went by and no-one came to claim her. And now she is waiting in the shelter and is beginning to get very depressed and sad – she won’t look you in the eye and shakes when she comes out.

Tulip needs some extra TLC to help her rebuild her confidence. While Tulip would prefer a home without cats, she passed her food tests beautifully, and has met some other scared dogs in the shelter, and seems interested, but not overly social.

With Tulip’s adoption fee ($50), she will be spayed, vaccinated and microchipped. This dog is located at 111 West Hunting Park Ave in Philadelphia. Adoption hours are 1-8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on weekends. If you are interested in adopting or fostering her, please contact nsmith@pspca.org or jsweeney@pspca.org.

This week’s featured dog is Torry, a one-two-year-old female terrier mix who has gorgeous markings and is quite the cuddler. She’s a regular Velcro dog: as soon as you take a seat, she’ll lean right up against you and stay attached for as long as you’ll pet her. This gorgeous young lady is friendly and social with dogs of all shapes, sizes, and colors and seems to like cats, too.

Torry loves to be outside and walks and jogs well on a leash. She loves to explore, but the whole time she checks back with you every few minutes to make sure you’re still right there with her. She knows “sit” and “stay” and absolutely loves treats, so training her should be a breeze.

This poor girl came into the shelter as a skinny little stray, and she’s still quite thin; could you be the one to bring this wonderful addition into your family so that she can get back to a healthy weight?

Currently Torry is being fostered and living with cats and kids! Check out this video of Torry. If you would like to meet her please email Erin at: erin.e.mcgowan [at] gmail.com.