LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Update: Olive has been adopted as of March 24, 2024.
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At Louisville Metro Animal Services (LMAS), hundreds of adoptable dogs and cats are desperately waiting for their forever family. The shelter is overcrowded, and when a dog stays for too long, tough decisions have to be made. Still, staff believe there is a family for every animal, they just need to find them.
This week’s WHAS11 Shelter Star is a sweet 1-year-old named Olive.
RELATED: Life or death decisions are made daily at Metro Animal Services; here’s how WHAS11 is trying to help
Olive was abandoned at the shelter in August of last year. That means she's going on seven months without a home of her own.
"She is so sweet, so loving and gives so much love it’s a shame that there's somebody out there that's missing out on that,” Foster mom Kristen Hale said.
Olive has met some dogs she likes and some she doesn't. Staff said it would be best to test out any possible companions or bring her into a dog-free home.
She knows basic commands, responds well to training and is great with kids of all ages. Her foster mom believes she would make a perfect family dog.
"She would be great for an active family, but she would also be great for a calm family. She could chill on the couch and be happy with that as well,” Hale said.
Olive is well mannered and relatively calm.
She’s been in two different foster homes since she was abandoned, and both women describe her a "sweetie" who loves to sit in your lap. Neither family wants her to go back to the shelter where her future could be uncertain.
"She just needs a chance. Someone to give her a chance. She needs someone that needs to be loved," Hale said.
You have a chance to meet Olive Saturday March 23 at the Animal House Adoption Center on Newburg Road. Her foster mom will be bringing her at 12 p.m. in hopes of finding her future family.
If you can't adopt right now, here's two thing you can do that could make a difference for a shelter pet:
1. Find LMAS on social media and share the organization's posts. This could include pictures of adoptable pets, current needs at the shelter, or volunteer opportunities.
2. Become a shelter pet advocate. Pick a dog at the shelter and become their champion, visit them at the shelter and take them on walks, make fliers for them to share on social media, and give them affection while they wait for their forever family.
You can see dogs available for adoption here.
LMAS Animal House Adoption Center is open every day from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 3516 Newburg Rd, Louisville, KY 40218.
Shay McAlister will be introducing you to a new dog every week in our WHAS Shelter Stars series. You can watch on WHAS11 News at 4 every Thursday.
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