Entrant's Name
Marie

Pet's Story or Bio
Hi. My name is Meli. I’m not her dog, but I met Forte’s founder, Marie on July 19 in Florida, which was her late dog Tayla’s birthday. It was also just a few months after Spike’s passing. Both of them have been on Forte’s calendar over the past years, and this is the first time Marie did not have anyone to enroll for the contest.

After she met me when I was at a rescue shelter, she felt so much connection with me and devasted that she couldn’t adopt me herself (she’s in Florida to take care of her aging mother), but made it her mission to find my forever home, so she posted my story on many social media groups and pages which generated 5,000 views.

A couple people sent her promising messages, but once she tried to make a plan for them to meet me, they disappeared. But she checked the rescue’s website every day because they said that their system automatically removes the adoption profile as soon as an animal is adopted.

Marie was so distressed that she woke up to worrying about me and went to bed feeling like a failure, Every Day.

Then by fluke, she saw her neighbor’s post about their dog’s demise. Lula and Spike were friendly to each other, and she was really fond of Lula. Marie was very saddened to hear about Lula’s sudden passing as she was looking forward to seeing her again.

She sent her condolences on their post, and the late Lula’s human mother replied, “We just adopted another dog from [a rescue] today. We went there to donate Lula's food and then checked out the pets up for adoption. There was a 4 year old hound that looked a lot like Lula, except she has brown eyes, not blue. She gave birth to puppies a few months ago. She's very mellow, quiet and gentle. I hope you can meet her.”

Marie thought, “OMG, everything fits Meli.” She asked in her reply to her comment if it was me whom they adopted. She checked on the rescue’s website, and my adoption post was taken down! She was 99% sure that they adopted me, but called them and she was on pins and needles until she heard back from them. They called her back in 15 minutes, but it felt like two hours to her.

Marie came to see me at my new home, and she couldn’t contain herself with joy. She can finally get on with life, with me in it to love on, as they will let her see me and walk with me from time to time.

My new mom and dad saw Marie’s post, and here I am in my forever home happily ever after, so I’m trying to return the favor by supporting Forte Animal Rescue to help her keep saving more lives like mine. So, please vote for me.

City and State
Ssarasota, FL