Adopter Name

Samantha Voso

Rescue Dog’s Name

Ray Finkelstein

Where Did You Find Your Dog?

Broward County Humane Society

Tell Us About the Moment When You Knew that You Two Were Meant for Each Other.

The month before showing up at the Humane Society in March of 2014 I had to put my 19 year old childhood dog, he had a stroke and it was his time. I spent a month dog-less and was in general having trouble adjusting to this dogless life. My boyfriend decided that I needed something and after losing Tramp, I did not want another dog because I was scared of becoming so attached to another dog. I went to the Humane Society on a Friday night to look at some bunnies. While my boyfriend and I waited for the person who could show us the bunnies we decided to look at all of the dogs. My boyfriend fell in love with all of the dogs, playing with them and talking about how much fun each one would be but for me a puppy did not sound like fun, it sounded like a ton of work and I was there for a bunny not another dog. I had fun looking at the dogs and walked all around the many rows of dogs. We were almost done looking at the dogs and my boyfriend was looking a huge mastiff when I saw Ray. Ray was listed as a 6 year old dog and no story was attached. I told my boyfriend to come look at Ray. Ray laid on his bed in the back of the enclosure, barely lifting his head as we yelled, called and whistled. My boyfriend wrote Ray off as an old dog, after all he was the only dog who didn’t bother coming up to even check us out. I said I liked Ray, at this point my boyfriend was surprised because Ray was an 80lb lab mix which was a far cry from my previous 15lb shih tzu mix. At this time, the bunny person was available and I began filling out paperwork to meet the bunny. I was talking to the adoption girl and she was surprised that a dog person (me) was thinking of becoming a bunny person, she asked if I had seen any dogs that interested me. At the last minute I asked my boyfriend to get Ray’s ID number, I figured I could see a dog and a bunny. Upon giving the volunteer Ray’s number the girl became very excited, telling us what a wonderful dog Ray is (this surprised us because he had not moved in his enclosure). When Ray was brought into the room his whole body was wagging and he was licking and exploring. Ray was not an old dog who could barely move, he was just sad in his enclosure. All of the volunteers loved Ray but because of his age and size not many people were interested in him. His history also included being given up twice before which to some people might mean he is a bad dog. I decided that with daily exercise and hugs and kisses Ray had potential and in a 10 minute span I decided I could not let Ray go back to being that sad dog we saw in his enclosure. That is how I became the owner of an 80lb lap dog.

How Has Your Hero Changed Your Life?

After rescuing Ray I realized a lot of new things; one, an 80lb dog can pull hard on the leash, two big dogs like to cuddle, three I had found one of the best dogs ever. Ray has made many friends in the neighborhood, which means I too have befriended many of my neighbors. I am a student and if it were not for Ray there would probably be days that I would not leave my house but because of Ray I walk a minimum of 2 miles a day. Ray is such a happy dog and his happiness is contagious. No matter what kind of day I’ve had, coming home to Ray and his whole body wagging always brings a smile to my face. Of course Ray is not perfect, he has many scars on his body from possible fights, beatings, who knows but whatever Ray has been through he does not let that affect him now. I love Ray for his ability to learn how to be a dog, he has learned how to play, learned how to ask for pets and rubs, he has learned how to be a loving dog in spite of of what he has been through. I love Ray, imperfections and all. Adopting an older dog with a sketchy past means you will have to work hard wit them but they will reward you with an unbelievable amount of love and appreciation. I love my rescue pup.