From the time he was a seven-week-old puppy until the age of fifteen years, Chip has been in a shelter.  This is a pitiable life for any creature.  But when one man found out about this, he made it his mission to give him a home for the rest of his life.

Chip knew no life other than that of his confined area at the Save-a-Pet shelter in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and it didn’t seem likely he would ever know what a real home is.  At 15, time was running out.

Debbie Gillett posted a plea on Facebook for someone to adopt Chip.

The little dog in the attached photo is Chip and he is 15 years old. Chip was taken to Save a Pet in Greenbushes when he was a 7 week old puppy. Today, 15 years later Chip is still at Save a Pet. Chip has NEVER had a home, NEVER had a family to love and cherish him, NEVER had someone to play with him or take him for walks, NEVER had a warm bed to sleep in or a human to cuddle up to. His ENTIRE life has been spent in an enclosure at a no-kill shelter here in Port Elizabeth. I can’t think of anything worse than to die having spent your ENTIRE life in an animal shelter. Yes, Chip has food and water and a kennel and he is way better off that hundreds of thousands of other dogs out there but it is just so sad that he will die never ever having had the experience of life in a home.

Chip probably doesn’t have much longer to live, he has a skin problem, he has problems with his eye-sight and I know I am asking a lot – actually I am asking for a miracle (but I believe in miracles). I am asking for someone out there to step forward and open up their heart and their home for Chip so that he can experience a loving home before he dies.

A man called Jaco Rademeyer stepped forward and adopted Chip.  When he saw the salt-and-peppered old guy, he knew he had to give him a forever home.

Chip will have a happily ever after, but many dogs in his position will never have the chance.  Save-a-Pet has many dogs who have spent their entire lives – 12 years or more – at the shelter.  You might not be able to adopt them, but you can help get the word out to those who can.  Please share.

To see more adoptable dogs in South Africa, please click here.  If you would like to adopt any of them, please call 041 372 1780 and ask for Jacky.

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According to animal control, he walks nicely on the leash, appears to be house-trained.

He was due for euthanasia on February 28 and was living on borrowed time.

However, For The Love of Dog Rottweiler Rescue of New Hampshire pulled him from animal control last Saturday and he is now being transferred into their care.

According to Dale Green who works with For The Love of Dog, “[He] is in quarantine boarding for the next two weeks, recovering from kennel cough and any other ailments that he has.”

The post 17 Year Old PitBull Abandoned And Needing A Home – Let’s Find Him One! appeared first on ILoveDogsAndPuppies.

Dallas Seavey, the 2015 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog champion poses with his lead dogs Reef, left, and Hero in Nome, Alaska on Wednesday, March 18, 2015. Seavey won his third Iditarod in the last four years, beating his father, Mitch, to the finish line after racing 1,000 miles across Alaska.

Dallas Seavey proved the short answer to all of those questions was no Wednesday when he won the race for the third time in four years.

The Alaska musher crossed the finish line in the Bering Sea coastal town of Nome at 4:13 a.m., completing the route in eight days, 8 hours, 13 minutes and 6 seconds. That’s about five hours longer than the record he set in winning the 2014 race.

“Obviously going into this race, the big hubbub was all about the new trail, right?” Seavey told a packed convention hall. Concerns were about the “warm, warm, warm winter” and conditions on the Yukon River, he said.

In fact, a snowmobile sank on thin ice on part of the route mushers were about to take. Some were considering buying rain gear.

But then winter came back to Alaska, and the trails became much more like one would expect for the Iditarod.

“We saw a lot of 40-, 50-below zero, snow,” said Seavey, of Willow. “This was a very tough race. It was not the easy run that a lot of people had anticipated for the Yukon River.”

Seavey’s father, Mitch, finished in second place Wednesday. Veteran musher Aaron Burmeister was third, arriving in Nome at 9:47 a.m., followed by Jessie Royer in fourth place at 11:51 a.m.

Before the race, some wondered if musher Pete Kaiser would have an advantage because of his experience racing on ice. Kaiser won this year’s Kuskokwim 300, which is run entirely on a river. He was in 13th place en route to Nome on Wednesday afternoon.

Dallas Seavey said this year’s competition came down to different mushing styles.

“I think going into this race, we all knew the winner would be who could maximize this new trail and take advantage of that,” he said.

He used two different styles: He was more aggressive than usual early on, running near the front of the pack. Then he let loose what he calls the “monster,” a team that can finish strong, building speed at the end.

After his victory, Dallas Seavey petted and hugged his dogs.

“I really do believe this is one of the best teams there’s ever been,” he said at a news conference. “That may just be overly proud pet parent talking, but they did just win the Iditarod, so that’s some credibility.”

He was presented with $70,000 — $19,600 more than last year — and the keys to a new pickup truck.

Dallas Seavey became the race’s youngest champion in 2012 at age 25. He also won last year in a race he figures he should have placed third in. A freak storm blew out the leaders, and he came across the finish line and didn’t realize he’d won until a cameraman told him.

His father, who lives in Sterling, is a two-time champion. Mitch Seavey won in 2004, and a year after Dallas became the race’s youngest winner, Mitch became its oldest at 53.

A total of 78 mushers began this year’s race March 9 in Fairbanks. Nine racers later scratched, and one was disqualified.

Two dogs have died this year, including one that was hit by a car after getting loose during the ceremonial start. The other dog was on four-time champion Lance Mackey’s team.

Dallas Seavey, the 2015 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog champion poses with his lead dogs Reef, left, and Hero in Nome, Alaska on Wednesday, March 18, 2015. Seavey won his third Iditarod in the last four years, beating his father, Mitch, to the finish line after racing 1,000 miles across Alaska.

Dallas Seavey, the 2015 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion poses with his lead dogs Hero, left, and Reef in Nome, Alaska on Wednesday, March 18, 2015. Seavey won his third Iditarod in the last four years, beating his father, Mitch, to the finish line after racing 1,000 miles across Alaska.

Dallas Seavey, the 2015 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion talks to the media in Nome, Alaska on Wednesday, March 18, 2015. Seavey won his third Iditarod in the last four years, beating his father, Mitch, to the finish line after racing 1,000 miles across Alaska.

Dallas Seavey, the 2015 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion is presented with a ceremonial check for $70,000 in Nome, Alaska on Wednesday, March 18, 2015. Seavey won his third Iditarod in the last four years, beating his father, Mitch, to the finish line after racing 1,000 miles across Alaska.

Tim Motis and his daughter Jenae Motis, 4, watch Dallas Seavey win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Nome, Alaska on Wednesday, March 18, 2015. Seavey won his third Iditarod in the last four years, beating his father, Mitch, to the finish line after racing 1,000 miles across Alaska.

Dallas Seavey mushes down Nome, Alaska to win his third Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday, March 18, 2015. Seavey won his third Iditarod in the last four years, beating his father, Mitch, to the finish line after racing 1,000 miles across Alaska.

Mitch Seavey mushes into White Mountain during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March 17, 2015. Dallas Seavey has won his third Iditarod in the last four years, beating his father, Mitch, to the finish line in Nome early Wednesday after racing 1,000 miles across Alaska.

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