Mitch, a 12-year-old treeing walker coonhound, was adopted after his new mom Teresa Shular saw a video the Cashiers-Highland Humane Society posted to their TikTok sharing Mitch’s story.
“I cried when I watched it the first time,” she told her local ABC station. “I cried when I watched it the second time. I thought about it and prayed about it for a few days.”
Shular and her husband ultimately decided to adopt the dog, who was the longest-term resident of the shelter at that point. “Couldn’t get up there fast enough to get him,” Shular said.
The assistant shelter manager, Jodi Henkel, told the station Mitch arrived as a stray; he was found “emaciated and high-strung.” However, even though he mellowed out over the years thanks to the staff’s attention and care, Mitch remained a hard sell due to his older age.
“For some reason, people look at hound dogs and don’t see them as pets, age, breed,” Henkel said. “We like to see every dog have a chance because they all deserve it.”
Shular is now enjoying her time with Mitch, who loves lying on his new porch and roaming around his home’s large property.
While some of Shular’s friends have questioned her getting an older dog, Shular defends her choice, stating that she wants to provide Mitch with a better life in his senior years.
“I’ve had it said to me by several people, ‘Why would you go get a dog that age just for it to die on you?’ And I said, ‘So he can have a home beforehand,'” Shular said. “It’s not about me; it’s about Mitch. He needed a home, and thankfully we can provide that for him.”
I am broadly interested in how human activities influence the ability of wildlife to persist in the modified environments that we create.
Specifically, my research investigates how the configuration and composition of landscapes influence the movement and population dynamics of forest birds. Both natural and human-derived fragmenting of habitat can influence where birds settle, how they access the resources they need to survive and reproduce, and these factors in turn affect population demographics. Most recently, I have been studying the ability of individuals to move through and utilize forested areas which have been modified through timber harvest as they seek out resources for the breeding and postfledging phases. As well I am working in collaboration with Parks Canada scientists to examine in the influence of high density moose populations on forest bird communities in Gros Morne National Park. Many of my projects are conducted in collaboration or consultation with representatives of industry and government agencies, seeking to improve the management and sustainability of natural resource extraction.