A terminally ill senior shelter dog has been given the greatest gift of all: the chance to see out his days in a happy, loving home of his own.
After more than two years living at the Maui Humane Society in Hawaii, Princess the dog must have sensed, on some level, that her final days would be spent in an enclosure, being cared for by the kind staff at the rescue.
That was already a significant step up from life as she had known it before. “Princess was found in Hana in Maui,” Ginger Cabais, a woman born and raised on the island of Oahu, told Newsweek. “It’s a pretty remote location. She was severely emaciated and found to have congestive heart failure.”
To an outsider, Princess had all the traits traditionally associated with a long-term shelter dog. Those traits were highlighted in a 2021 study from the journal Animals which sought to identify the shared characteristics of canines spending 12 months or more in the shelter system.
Researchers found that, more often than not, long-term shelter dogs are usually of older age, male, of large size, neutered, and considered a “dangerous breed.” Princess ticked at least a handful of those boxes as, as a dog with a terminal illness, would require a big commitment from anyone willing to take her on.
For over two years she remained at the shelter, though staff at the Maui Humane Society never gave up on finding Princess a place to call her own. She was fostered several times in the years that followed, but never adopted.
Eager to harness the power of social media, the Maui Humane Society posted a video marking Princess’s long stay in the shelter. It had the desired effect. “I had been on social media one day, and came across a video of Princess and how she spent her 775th day in the shelter,” Cabais said.
Cabais could not have been better placed to understand what Princess had been through. From the moment she rescued her first pup in 2014, Cabais has taken a keen interest in animal rescue. However, it was only after a change of jobs saw her relocate to San Antonio, Texas, that she began to understand the scale of the problem.
“That’s when I realized that the shelter and stray animal issue out there is a rapidly growing issue and the volume of animals out there either struggling to survive on the streets or being killed weekly in their shelters is getting larger,” Cabais said.
She started fostering for Animal Care Services and San Antonio Pets Alive. “It didn’t stop there,” Cabais said. ” Rescues in Colorado, Ohio and the East Coast were struggling financially to transport their rescued animals to them. So in 2023, I started transporting animals all across the U.S., including Alaska.”
Between June 2023 and July 2024, Cabais transported 664 animals to their forever homes, visiting all 50 states, and even picking up animals in Canada. From there, she took up a role managing a rescue facility in Ohio where she helped rehabilitate and rehome 57 rescue animals until the sad passing of both her parents saw her return to Hawaii to settle their estate.
In some ways Cabais and Princess found each other just in time. Cabais needed her companionship while, in Princess, she saw a great dog with the odds stacked against her. A dog in need of love.
“I fell in love with her before meeting her,” Cabais said. “Being a part of all aspects of rescue, I knew Princess was not a highly adoptable dog. She is a pit mix, she’s 10 years old, and she is considered a hospice dog.”
“I know what it’s like to care for such an amazing animal, who gets overlooked because of either their breed, size or age and Princess pulled my heartstrings,” she said. “I knew she deserved a loving and safe home to spend her golden years.”
So, after receiving clearance from the Maui Humane Society’s veterinary team, and a volunteer pilot named Bianca, on her 791th day, Princess was flown to the island of Oahu, where she will live her remaining golden years with Cabais and her family.
A couple of weeks in and Cabais is pleased to report that Princess is “doing amazing” in her new forever home. “She is the sweetest girl who loves rolling in the grass, playing with plushies and will jump and tap her feet to get your attention,” she said.
There was a time when Princess was left facing a future of nights spent sleeping in an enclosure. Now she sleeps on Cabais’s bed. “I don’t know her past before the shelter, but we just want to make up for the 791 days she spent in there, so what Princess wants, Princess gets,” she said.
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