adoption

editor’s note: Since we’re on a mini-vaca (not publishing InCity Times this week), we’re running the Worcester Animal Rescue League’s Pet Pals - kitties and doggies who need loving FOREVER homes - on our website. Please visit WARL and check out all these lovely animals. Remember: always rescue a homeless pet! You don’t need to buy a dog or cat from a breeder or (heaven help you) a pet store (puppy mill animals). If you can’t adopt, then volunteer to walk WARL’s dogs or help feed their cats.

P.S. WARL always needs: kitty litter, laundry detergent, bleach and any gently used towels or comforters you may not be using.

R. Tirella

Hi, I’m Oreo. I’m a chubby cat, weighing in at 24 pounds. They say I need a little exercise and a strict diet. I just think that I have more for you to love. I might look a little silly right now because they had to shave some matted hair on my back. When it grows back I’ll be super handsome. My front paws are declawed. If you want to adopt me I should let you know that I would prefer an adult home. I am over 9 years old, which qualifies me for WARL’s “Senior for Senior” program, meaning if a senior citizen adopts any pet over 7 years old, the adoption fee is completely waived. Think it over, you know where to find me. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Music. I came to the shelter with my kittens. Someone found us and brought us to the animal shelter. I was happy to be safe with a roof over my head. My kittens have all new homes now. I just need a home to call my own too. Could it be with you. Oh, I will live with kids if they are respectable of me and I’m not that crazy about dogs either. I hope I don’t sound to picky. Come to the shelter and meet me. Click to continue »

By Rosalie Tirella

So sad. So heartbreaking. My quest for a new best friend (dog) has been a real heartbreaker.

The last few times I adopted a pooch I seemed to find my canine soulmate within a week or two. I adopted both my fabulous dogs from the Worcester Animal Rescue League: “Bailey,” a big-boned Nova Scotia Retriever, 5 years ago, and “Grace,” a Lab/Beagle/Australian Cattle Dog mix (a classic “Heinz 57,” as my vet put it), 15 years ago.

Both were fantastic finds.

Grace was sweet and quiet and loved to ride shot-gun in the jalopy I happened to be driving at the moment. As I’d drive, Grace would have her front paws firmly planted on the two bucket seats in front and her rear legs a hold of the back seat. She could handle anything the road through at us! Curves, pot holes - my quick braking. She once fell head over paws into the front seat as the dope infront of me stopped short and damn near killed me and Gracie. Once, on Route 20, I almost drove headlong into a speeding 18 wheeler (don’t ask). After that two-second brush with death, Grace and I turned and looked at each other - at the same time. Yes, she had been scared shitless, too. Click to continue »

By Vanessa H. Costa

Are you still looking for that perfect pet?

After you read this article, I hope your search will end and with the adoption of a retired racing Greyhound.

Thanks to the Becker College Animal Science Program, you can find your next greyhound there, where the retired racers are housed for a full semester and are enrolled in a Socialization and Training Program with Becker’s Veterinary Technology Program and Pre-veterinary majors.

Like many of us who have grown up in Worcester, I have visited both the Worcester and Leicester Campus of Becker College but, I was not aware of the Animal Science Program which has been in existence for almost three decades. Within the last couple years, retired racing greyhounds have been introduced into the program, and with the spring semester 2009, partnerships were established to house 9 greyhounds into a formal training program. Click to continue »

(editor’s note: There are so many great kids in foster care! So many who would love a forever family of their own! InCity Times supports programs that help poor/special needs kids find moms and dads and siblings who will love them always. Here’s yet another story and more information for folks. - R.T.)

Adoption Rocks the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Massachusetts

By Kristin Erekson

Hip Hop pioneer and legendary rapper Darryl “DMC” McDaniels brought the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame celebrities to their feet when he told the crowd “You’re looking at what can happen when you give love to a kid.”

Recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, McDaniels credits his personal success to having been adopted from foster care by a loving family.

“The best thing you can do is give love to a kid, ‘cause that kid may grow up to be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” he added.

And right now, there are nearly 2,400 children in Massachusetts foster care waiting to be adopted by families just like McDaniel’s – families that will give them their opportunity to thrive.

Adoptive families come in all shapes and sizes. Families adopting children out of foster care may be movie stars, like My Big Fat Greek Wedding star Nia Vardalos, or they could be the teacher and construction worker down the street. But one thing they all have in common is the desire to grow their families through adoption, and the knowledge that a child in foster care may be the child who belongs in their family.

What most people interested in building their family through adoption don’t know is that there are thousands of children and teens right here in Massachusetts looking to be part of a loving home to call their own. They also don’t realize that thousands of local families have already adopted children from state foster care.

While international adoption is well known because of celebrity adoptions, those adoptions can easily cost $30,000 or more. Adoption from foster care is virtually free, with free training and assistance from social workers. Click to continue »

By Celia Gnoza

Did you ever want to be a hero? Did you ever wonder if you could ever make a difference in this world? Well you can! Anyone can be a hero by becoming a Foster Parent. Some of the greatest champions in our city are every day people who have chosen to foster children in the care of the Department of Children and Families (DCF).
It’s about caring for a child in need and extending love to a human being
Many of the children come with a history of trauma and the difference you can make is huge.

There are currently many children in the Worcester area alone who are living in foster care. We need your help to provide these children with a safe and loving home.

While it is often the case that children twelve years of age and older wait longer than their younger peers to find an adoptive family, these children never give up hope for a permanent home. Within just the past six months, the Central DCF Region has legalized the adoptions of five children, all placed as teenagers with non-related families. Here are there stories.

Before reaching 15, Tashanna’s birth mother had died and her three younger siblings had been adopted. She always wanted a family but knew that her photo that appeared in the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE) manual drew few inquiries. During the spring of 2007, an adoptive couple with no previous children saw her picture in pre-adoptive training and said it was love at first sight.” Tashanna’s adoption worker, her therapist and members from the couple’s church helped to support the placement. The family encouraged Tashanna’s passions and interests while simultaneously introducing her to new opportunities. Tashanna is a well accomplished 16 year old whose parents are so proud that when they talk about her with others, they often well up with tears of joy. Click to continue »