Since March 12, 2021 a pair of soulful, brown eyes have watched hopefully as people of all ages, races, shapes and sizes have passed by his cage. The sweet guy behind those eyes is a pit bull mix the Humane Society of Genesee County staff has named Ricco.
In the more than two years Ricco has been at HSGC, plenty of people have stopped at his cage, many casting much more than a passing glance at him. Ricco was adopted once during his first year there, only to be returned to the shelter a month later.
The first lines of the information on Ricco’s “cage card” tell you he is a dream dog, “The sweetest boy, and wants nothing other than to snuggle up on the couch with you. He loves to go on walks, and toys are the best.” The HSGC staff ought to know; they have spent a lot of time getting to know him in the two years since he arrived.
Stop by his cage today and he will greet you with an eager smile, a wagging tail and a quiet demeanor.
Read a bit more of Ricco’s info, and the mystery unravels. He requires thyroid and allergy medications and can only eat grain-free food; a special diet and prescriptions can be tough on an adopter’s budget. It doesn’t help Ricco’s case much that he is eight years old. Senior dogs are typically slow to be adopted from shelters.
Despite the heartbreak, Ricco is on a seemingly constant vigil, waiting for that fur-ever family to finally take him home. Stop by his cage today and he will greet you with an eager smile, a wagging tail and a quiet demeanor. No barking, no jumping for this polite boy, and he even gets along with other dogs.
The HSGC staff remains hopeful, too, that someone will come along and make Ricco’s dream of a real home come true. Until then, they will do whatever it takes to make it happen – for as long as it takes.
Sadly, Ricco is one of many long-timers in this shelter. Daisy Sue’s first anniversary at the shelter was in February. Copper’s year comes around this month. Unless someone steps up, Ollie and Walley will reach one year in July.
Summer is just around the corner, the peak time for dogs to land in shelters, and it is also when adoption rates tend to dip. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), two million shelter dogs are adopted each year. In a cage on Dort Hwy. in Burton, a boy named Ricco is smiling, wagging, waiting … and hoping to become part of that lucky group.
To learn more about Ricco and all the wonderful animals up for adoption at the Humane Society of Genesee County, visit geneseehumane.org.
