Oh, irony of ironies! We have a pug

In which Jill throws up a little in her mouth.

These are words I never thought I’d type: Outta the Cage has a 1-year-old pug puppy.

A confluence of events and two responsible owners who want to do right by their pup have culminated in Mochi⁠—a 1-year-old maniac who’s good with dogs and kids and has never met a stranger⁠—coming to Outta the Cage.

Meet Mochi.

This is especially ironic since we don’t rescue small dogs or puppies. Why? Simply put, small dogs and puppies without health issues (and sometimes WITH health issues) tend to get adopted within days of entering a shelter.

Instead, we focus on long-term stay dogs, which usually means large-breed dogs, seniors, or those with behavior or medical needs. We help these dogs recover from the trauma of the shelter. We get them the medical and training help they need, returning them to the balanced, healthy dogs they are. This can take months and cost thousands of dollars. This year alone, our average cost per dog is $2,600. We currently have three medical dogs who have each cost more than $3,500 (so far).

We knew that Mochi would be a hot commodity, so we decided to network her privately. Within a few hours of sharing her to a small group of friends and family, we received this from a woman I’ll call Sam:

“I was just made aware that you had a one-year-old pug up for adoption. We are a well-off household and will outbid any other adopter for her. Please call me at [her phone number] ASAP! We want to help a dog in need.”

Sigh.

Of course, we would like to send Sam a picture of Tiger, our cuddly 7-year-old rottie mix sleeping side-by-side with his foster dog brother, Heath. Or a video of Handsome, a 7-year-old short stack pittie who was someone’s backyard dog and, despite weighing 75 pounds, loves being carried around like a baby. Or our girl Shelby, a Belgian Malinois with a birth defect affecting her gait, who’s improving every day and never stops smiling.

We get it. Little dogs are arguably easier, more portable, and fit into a larger range of living arrangements (e.g., studio apartments).

I was discussing networking strategies with Jennifer Downs, Mochi’s dedicated foster and a super-volunteer at East Valley shelter. Jennifer has an incisive sense of humor: “Just stand with Mochi in the shelter lobby for 5 minutes this weekend.”

Jennifer and Mochi.

We will have a home for Mochi by then. For Tiger, Handsome, Shelby, and the other dogs in our rescue awaiting forever homes, we’ll continue to do the hard work.