The Lost Dogs’ Home is urging those considering bringing a pet into their life to make sure it is the right type of pet for them both now and into the future.
The message comes as the number of big dogs (over 20 kilograms) available for adoption across the Cranbourne and North Melbourne shelters has doubled in just a month.
The Home’s spokesperson Suzana Talevski said many of the dogs were young and just recently reached adulthood.
‘’We know there was a massive uptake of puppies at the height of Covid-19 in the last two years,” Ms Talevski said. “But over the course of that time, those puppies have grown up.
“It is quite conceivable that some people were so desperate for a pet they did not carefully consider the breed of puppy they were bringing into their life.’’
Although all puppies are officially considered adult dogs once they reach one year old, puppies continue to grow in height and size while their bones are still developing, which takes anywhere from six to 24 months.
‘’Most puppies don’t stay small for ever and the fact is many grow up to become big dogs and sadly we have many now that are looking for new homes,’’ Ms Talevski said.
The Home currently has 35 big, beautiful dogs looking for loving homes with more dogs arriving every day.
To help these beautiful dogs find their perfect match, the Home is launching a Swipe Right for Paw-fection! campaign, a three-day adoption drive beginning Thursday 10 March where fees for big dogs will be halved and walk-in visits will be available to meet the Homes’ ‘singles’.
Prospective adopters are being encouraged to search for their perfect match on the Homes’ website and carefully factor in all the information in the dogs’ profile before going for a face-to-face meet.
The event runs from Thursday 10 – Saturday 12 March at both Cranbourne and North Melbourne shelters during usual adoption hours.