The yellow dog was waiting at the door of the shelter.
Her name is Mamas. She is staying at the Minneapolis Animal Care and Control (MACC) for six months while her family gets back on their feet.
The door opened and a familiar figure entered. Mama's tail began to wag faster and faster until her entire body wiggled. She stretched her legs behind her until she was eye to nose with her favorite person in the world, Laurena Carrizales Guerrero Celeste.
After six months of heartache, homelessness, and hard labor, they were about to return home.
“People here are really generous. They have really good hearts,” said Celeste, a chef who turned to the city's animal safety net program when she and her moms faced homelessness.
When humanity is in trouble, Minneapolis extends its safety net. Rather than forcing people to choose between caring for their pets and themselves, Minneapolis Animal Care and Control is offering a third option.
MACC will take care of your pet. When pet owners are hospitalized, seeking shelter, receiving treatment, or fleeing domestic violence, a network of volunteers acts as foster homes for pets.
“So many people are living in their cars because they can't take their pets to a shelter,” said Madison Weissenborn, volunteer and community partnership coordinator for MACC. By helping your pet, she says, “hopefully you can get help, treatment, and whatever else you need.”
Mamas was a small yellow puppy when Celeste adopted him seven years ago. Being apart was difficult for both of them.
“There were a few times when I wanted to give up and thought, 'I'm never going to get her back,'” Celeste said. You can find housing for both.
It was a tough transition for mom too. She passed through a series of foster homes and her possible adoption. Each time, she bounced back to MACC's downtown shelter.
Some dogs find shelters to be noisy and scary places. Moms loved it there. There were treats, enrichment activities, a run where she could play with other dogs, and plenty of adorable humans to scratch her ears.
MACC volunteers worked to train and manage some of the problem behaviors that make moms difficult. Then the phone call came. Celeste wondered if she would be able to take Mamas home if there was no one else to take her in. Celeste worked for months, saving and missing her dogs. She was planning to move into an apartment that allowed pets.
“Honestly, I was more motivated” to look for a home, she said, standing in the animal control lobby while her moms jumped up and down and peered at her through the windows of nearby rooms. Ta. “I really wanted her back. Everything worked out.”
Volunteers with Friends of Minneapolis Animal Care and Control spent six months hoping for a happy ending to mom's story. They decided to send her off in style.
Volunteers organized a housewarming drive and filled the MACC lobby with donations for moms and their families. Lamps, rugs, kitchen utensils. While Celeste was reunited with her dog, her donated bed and couch were on their way to her apartment.
“There are days when you think, 'Why am I doing this?'” Weissenborn said with a laugh, as the lobby of the animal control center filled with answers to that question.
Beefaloni, a sunny little pit bull, was returning from a walk around the neighborhood with a volunteer when he snorted past us. At MACC, there was always a line of adopters waiting to meet adoptable dogs, cats, and small animals.
The city of Minneapolis has permanently waived pet adoption fees for residents, hoping to free up space at shelters filled with animals in need of good homes. Conventional wisdom has held that if an owner puts any value on a pet's life, they should charge for the pet. However, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals encourages free adoption. Their research found that most pet owners spend the money they would have spent on adoption on caring for their pet instead.
Even if you're not considering adoption, MACC could use more volunteers and donations. Volunteer opportunities range from fostering dogs, pets and small creatures at home to stopping by on your lunch break jog or taking your energetic dog for a walk.
Meanwhile, Celeste has a message for others going through difficult times.
“If there's anyone out there who's struggling like I am,” she said. “Do not give up.”
