handout

For The Washington Post

Virginia Oliver

Two women from the shoulders up are back to back. The woman on the left wears a gray shirt and frowns. The background behind her is dark blue, and there are lines above her depicting stressful thoughts. The woman on the right wears a purple shirt and is smiling. The background behind her is yellow and there are sparkles around her head.

The Washington Post

inspired-life-positive-news

Respond to prefers-color-scheme dark in app web views

Follow section front redirects in Spectrum

Enable NLP source in PCS for load testing

Switch off the News Alerts Survey Widget when we have enough responses

Poll to determine if new LUF updates are available

Allows the winning A/B test variant to be turned on without Spectrum deployment

Show expanded byline information on articles

Show infinite scrolling sections in Assembler MultiView

Show option for NLP article summaries in Action Bar

Show NLP summaries collection recirc on article pages

A general feature flag for Recipe Features that aren't yet released

Feature flag for media team features that aren't yet released

Use new Orca video player for preroll plugin in Spectrum

Show the snow tracker (instead of the heat tracker) on Spectrum

She graduated from Yale after raising 3 kids. Her son was her classmate.

I was homeless as a kid. Here’s how I survived. 

Kittens or puppies? Animals left at shelter turned out to be foxes — again.

Trevor Williams keeps dealing as Nationals shut down Mariners again

In a throwback loss to the Mariners, the Nats get burned by the bullpen

Nationals loosen up and ride MacKenzie Gore to a win over the Mariners

12 injured in severe turbulence on Qatar Airways flight

Claudia Sheinbaum is likely to be Mexico’s next president. Who is she?

U.S. lawmakers ignore China’s warning, meet with Taiwan’s new leader

Want to find hidden gem restaurants? Follow the business crowd to lunch. 

American Airlines fires lawyers after blaming child for being filmed in bathroom

Budget airlines are dropping notorious fees. What changed?

Trump told donors he will crush pro-Palestinian protests, deport demonstrators

U.S. and allies move to tap frozen Russian funds despite Kremlin threats

Progressive Democrats aren’t turning activism into election wins

Carolyn Hax: Parents want nothing to do with their daughter’s cheating husband

Miss Manners: Should graduate send parents a thank-you note?

Ask Amy: I want to be busy in my retirement. My husband resents that.

A year after paying off our 2.75% mortgage, we still have no regrets

Home-insurance payouts are shrinking. Here’s how to prevent the worst.

Maxed out on your credit card? Here’s how to dig out.

 How Florida is getting its pink back

What you need to know about covid this summer

Trump booed at Libertarian convention

Debunking misinformation failed. Welcome to ‘pre-bunking’

Boeing continues to struggle with spacecraft problems ahead of human flight

Kabosu, side-eyeing Shiba inu who inspired the ‘doge’ meme, dies at 18

AI will transform sports betting. It will also increase the risks.

Here’s who The Post endorses in D.C. Council primary elections

How (not) to fix the border

Trump trial live updates: Closing arguments underway in hush money case

Aaliyah Grose

The puppy was tied to a pole outside of a Philadelphia shelter and left with a brief note.

“Good Puppy. House Broken. Don’t Have A Name,” read the handwritten message, which also said the dog is a pit bull-mastiff mix born Dec. 15, 2023.

A clinic nurse found the dog the morning of May 8 and told her co-workers at the Pennsylvania SPCA that the pup appeared terrified.

“She was very scared, very shy, shut down a little bit,” said Gillian Kocher, the shelter’s director of public relations.

Pennsylvania SPCA

A veterinary examination found that the dog was in excellent physical condition — apart from some discharge around her eyes, possibly from tears. While dogs don’t <a href="https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/do-dogs-cry/#:~:text=So%2C%20is%20there%20a%20connection,to%20what%20they're%20feeling." target=_blank>shed tears when sad</a>, shelter staff could tell the puppy had a fearful, despondent look in her eyes.

“We do feel like somebody cared about her,” Kocher said, adding that she wasn’t underweight and did not show signs of physical abuse.

While animals being abandoned with a heart-rending note is relatively rare, Kocher said, surrenders to the shelter have become increasingly common in recent years.

“A year or two ago, you would see this happen once a month, and now you see it happen maybe once or twice a week,” Kocher said.

When people drop off their pets, they will most often say they are facing financial hardship or housing concerns, she said.

The surge in surrenders has left shelters across the country in crisis mode. They have become <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/12/25/dog-cat-animal-shelter-adoption/" target=_blank>unmanageably overcrowded</a> as more people are giving up their pets — and fewer are willing to adopt.

“If you have to worry about putting food on the table or keeping a pet, when push comes to shove, the pet is probably going to go,” Kocher said.

The shelter is working on improving what it calls “pet retention,” to keep as many animals as possible with their families.

“We go out into neighborhoods and provide free veterinary care,” Kocher said, adding that the shelter also offers food and other supplies to families who need support.

“We would love to have the opportunity to help keep an animal in a home by providing resources and doing whatever we can do,” Kocher said.

Still, in some situations, surrendering a pet to the shelter is the best thing an owner can do, she said.

“People can get really upset about animals being abandoned, and I certainly can understand that, but we sort of take on the viewpoint that they are getting these animals to the right place,” Kocher said. “People are bringing these animals to us for a reason, knowing we are a safe haven for them.”

Matt Zankowski, an intake coordinator at the shelter, decided the puppy’s name would be Minerva.

“I like to put in classical references when I can,” he said. “She had soulful eyes and appeared wise beyond her years, so I named her after the Roman goddess of wisdom.”

The shelter shared a post about the pup <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PennsylvaniaSPCA/posts/828168496006212?ref=embed_post" target=_blank>on social media with her backstory,</a> hoping to draw interest from prospective adopters.

“Our hearts broke for her. She was so terrified. But she was safe with us now,” the post read. “At just five months old, this sweet girl has been abandoned by likely the only family she has known. And sadly, this is not a unique situation.”

Hundreds of comments poured in, including plenty with offers to foster and adopt Minerva.

“My heart breaks for this pup but so thankful she was left there and not dumped or hurt,” someone commented. “You guys will get her a good home and show her the love and care she’s always needed.”

“Thank you for saving her. Heartbreaking,” another person wrote.

After sifting through adoption offers, the shelter settled on someone they thought would be the right fit for Minerva.

“It was love at first sight,” said Aaliyah Grose, who brought Minerva home on Sunday. “She reminded me of my family dog.”

Minerva is adjusting to her new home, Grose said, and mingling well with her pup siblings — Siona, 3, and Ghost, 2.

“We’ve only had her for two days but she is already showing signs of love and strength,” Grose said, adding that Minerva’s eyes are still slightly teary, and she is going for a checkup next week. “She is very happy and very playful.”

Kocher and her colleagues said they hope Minerva’s story encourages people to visit their local shelter.

“There are loving, deserving animals in shelters,” Kocher said. “There’s nothing that loves you more than a shelter pet who you rescued.”

A previous version of this story misspelled Matt Zankowski's last name. The article has been corrected.

McGill University, BA

Columbia University, MS in journalism 

Sydney Page is a staff reporter who writes for The Washington Post’s Inspired Life section, a collection of stories about humanity. She has been a contributor to The Post since 2018.

Sydney Page

washpost

the-washington-post

name

prism://prism.query/site,/lifestyle/inspired-life?limit=20

Inspired Life

prism://prism.query/site-articles-only,/lifestyle&limit=20

Lifestyle

Washington Post Lifestyle gives you the latest fashion and beauty trends, home d&eacute;cor pointers, food and recipe ideas and reviews, relationship advice, travel ideas, wellness tips and much more.

prism://prism.query/site-articles-only,/national&limit=20

National

The Washington Post's national news coverage. Get the latest national news, featuring national security, science and the courts. Read breaking national news headlines from across the U.S.