Happiness could be a warm beagle

Speaking of senior pets, I had an email yesterday about this sweet, ten year old female beagle. Some of the details were missing, such as whether she is spayed, but apparently she has always been a house dog, and isn't a hunter. ( Not that I think there is any chance that the rabbit hunting crowd follows this blog : ))))
There is a very tight timeline for this little sweetheart .... her owner is moving from a house to a 'flat' and if I read the email right is prepared to take this little girl to the vet to be killed, rather than try to surrender her to the SPCA .
( the subject of how owners can feel this is a more humane solution than the opportunity for a second chance at love is a rant for another day)
As it stands, when her owner moves at the end of the month, it will be the end of the line for this little girl, unless a better option is found.
Beagles are such sweet and loving family pets that I have an entire page in the homeless pet site just for the beagles available for adoption. Like many other beagles, this little girl looks like she has a tendency to put on weight easy .... something this middle aged granny can readily sympathize with.
Of all the dogs I have ever brought into my home, the one who made the easiest transition was the senior terrier mix that my friends dognapped from the shelter .... er I mean brought over for me to adopt... heh heh heh. Scamp walked in the front door, took one look around and said to himself .. this is lovely and I like this just fine. He was as faithful a friend as his buddy the senior labrador who had lived his whole life with me.
There is nothing wrong with wanting an easy life .... in fact I have another whole section of the homeless pet site devoted to the sweet seniors available for adoption in this province. I want to tell you that they are often adopted more quickly than some of the young adults. Why would that be? They are usually more mellow and are already housetrained.
In fact, if a person has recently lost a lifetime companion, adopting a senior pet is often less of a jolt than bringing home a puppy. After a certain age, seniors become very Zen company and are just ever so much less demanding than the youngsters.
When I was thirteen, one of my most prized possessions was a blue t-shirt with a caption under Snoopy that read "happiness is a warm puppy". At fifty four, I understand that happiness isn't a warm puppy, its a warm and snuggly beagle like Mitsy.