When an animal gets placed in a shelter, there’s no telling exactly when they will find their forever home. There are, though, some indicators that may help suggest if they will be adopted fairly quickly or not. These include the color, age, breed, and personality traits of the animal.
Unfortunately, not all animals are lucky to get adopted within their first few months of entering a shelter or pet store. That was true for a six-year-old mixed-breed canine named Merrick. Although he has a sweet personality and is absolutely adorable, he resided in a Kansas City shelter for almost his entire life. Fortunately, he recently found his forever family: Jordan Nussbaum and his girlfriend!
Nussbaum had no idea of Merrick’s existence until he spotted his photograph plastered on a massive billboard. Right away after viewing the billboard, Nussbaum fell in love with the dog and convinced his partner to agree to adopt him. With her approval, the couple filled out official adoption paperwork and made him part of their little family.
“It breaks my heart that he sat there but I think it was destined that he waited that long,” Nussbaum admitted.
The long period of time Merrick had to wait to be adopted was worth the wait. After all, Nussbaum believes that he and his girlfriend are the perfect fit for the dog’s personality and needs.
“It was love at first sight. What they wanted was someone without kids who had a lot of energy to keep up with him because he’s a huge dog. But he’s still a puppy.”
Although it sounds like the billboard advertisement was a very easy way to get the long-time shelter dog adopted, the process wasn’t as smooth as you might have imagined. Apart from costing Scott Poore, the owner of Mission Driven, $3,000 to have the ad displayed, there were other complications that arose.
Before the billboard idea even came into play, dozens of videos and photographs were taken of Merrick over the years and posted online with no success. And as for the billboard campaign itself, everything from taking the right photo of Merrick, to actually designing the advertisement, to finding the perfect location to place the billboard was a challenge.
“It’s unbelievable it was this hard of a process,” Poore said. “We were telling the same story to the same audience for those five and a half years but when Mission Driven bought the billboard we reached a whole new audience.”
But the campaign ended up going well, and as of a few weeks ago, Merrick got to meet his human family and be taken to his new home.
Rumor has it that Merrick is doing great in the care of Nussbaum and his girlfriend. It looks like he even has a little crush of his own: the next-door neighbor’s female dog!
Hearing successful adoption stories like this one makes my heart throb with joy. I wish all animals could be adopted quickly, maybe sometimes it’s all about the right timing.
Listen to a recap of Merrick’s journey from shelter to forever home below.
