Senior dog who spent 11 years in a shelter looking for forever home

COTTAGE GROVE, Wis. (WMTV/Gray News) – A dog from southern Alabama has been in a shelter for 11 of her 13 years, and she has now been brought to Wisconsin in hopes of finding a forever home.

Wanda McGee and her husband have brought hundreds of dogs from Alabama to Wisconsin through their organization Second Chance Shelter.

“I mean, it’s definitely a work of love. You know, you don’t make any money doing this, for sure,” McGee said.

On Saturday morning, they brought 13-year-old Fergie, who has spent about 11 years in a shelter, to Wisconsin

“She came from animal control, and they had to trap her, actually, to catch her, and she was about a year old when we got her,” McGee said. “She was pretty much feral, and she’s just recently started letting us pet her.”

Fergie is heading to a temporary home through Albert’s Dog Lounge, a foster-based rescue out of Whitewater. She will now be called Fiona.

“We kind of do new life, new name,” Vice President Lindsey Decker said. “It’s a really joyful day for me to be able to bridge this gap between shelter and her hopeful forever home.”

Fiona will stay with Decker until she finds a forever home.

“Whether that’s with me, or whether we find her really amazing adopters while she’s with me, which is our goal,” Decker said.

If a forever home cannot be found for Fiona, she will live out her days with Decker, alongside other senior dogs to play with and acres of land to sniff.

“It’s such a fulfilling piece of the rescue mission that we have, is to be able to provide that compassionate care at the end of their lives and, and just give them really, really great retirement years,” Decker said.

Decker said Fiona is adapting really well to her new environment. She arrived with a tucked tail and sad eyes, but is now prancing through her new yard, enjoying her freedom.

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