So that was fast.
Mavis, a 5-year-old Shih Tzu mix, was introduced to her adoring public by the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando and Aloft Orlando Downtown Wednesday night as part of a new hotel foster program. Just 24 hours later, she had a forever home.
And her new human didn’t have to go far.
“I actually work in the hotel,” said Geo Cuevas, Aloft’s director of sales. “My son has been asking about getting a dog, but honestly I didn’t really expect to adopt immediately.”
Cuevas was at the program’s launch Wednesday evening and was charmed by the 13-pound pooch, who spent less than a day in the lobby’s new dog house, which has a glass run so guests can see and pet the dog. A similar foster program started in 2014 at Aloft Asheville Downtown, which recently celebrated its 100th dog adoption.
Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando,partnering with Aloft Orlando Downtown, set up a foster adoption program at the downtown hotel, on Wednesday, May 23, 2018.
Through the program, Aloft Orlando Downtown will house one dog at a time that can be permanently adopted by hotel guests and locals. Each dog will live in a custom-built dog house and enclosure.
(Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel)
The Orlando program is the second of its kind in the state and one of less than a dozen in the nation.
“I guess they got a ton of calls about Mavis,” Cuevas said. “We knew we wanted her, but there was one hitch.”
Cuevas, her husband and son had been set to go out of town for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. They already had reservations at a Gulf Coast hotel, where they were supposed to meet friends. And despite a rainy forecast, they had intended to keep their travel plans.
“My husband finally said, ‘Let’s just cancel it and get the dog now,” Cuevas said. “So we called the hotel and then asked our friends to come meet us in Orlando. We just didn’t want to wait any longer to bring [Mavis] home.”
Thursday night, she settled into her new family nicely.
“She slept so well, and she’s super sweet,” Cuevas said.
A new foster dog is set to move into Aloft Saturday morning, just in time for the weekend guests.
ksantich@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5503. Follow @katesantich on Twitter.
