Senior pit bull finally gets adopted after 10 years in shelter

All shelter dogs dream of finding their forever home, but sadly it takes some longer than others to get adopted. Some wait months or even years before finding the right home.

One poor dog even waited a whole decade to find a home — until she finally got adopted on the Fourth of July.

Jill is an American Pit Bull mix who arrived at the Clay County Animal Shelter in Henrietta, Texas as a 1-year-old pup, and it ended up being her only home for 10 years.

For years, the shelter tried to get Jill a home, to no avail. She needed to be the only pet in the household, but the shelter described her as a “sweet heart” who “loves people.”

Jill was constantly passed over, never able to find the right home. The shelter also suspects that her breed might have been a factor.

“We’ve had several applications be put in on Jill before but because she is [a] pit, a lot of landlords wouldn’t allow them to have her,” Clay County Animal Shelter Adoption Manager Bonnie Stone told KFDX.

Thankfully, the Clay County Animal Shelter is a no-kill shelter, and while she was unable to find a home she was treated well and loved by her caretakers.

“We grow with them and they’re family members now,” Bonnie Stone said.

But even after a decade of no success, the shelter staff still hoped she would finally find a real home of her own.

And this month, their long wait finally ended. A woman named Keelie Blassingame visited the shelter looking to adopt a dog, and while many adopters pass by senior dogs, Keelie was instantly drawn to Jill.

“All the other dogs were very sweet. I just feel like she kind of naturally gravitated towards me,” she told KFDX. “I just knew that a lot of times senior dogs don’t get adopted very often, so that was one of the main reasons I wanted to adopt an older dog.”

On July 4, Keelie adopted Jill for good. After 10 years, it was a bittersweet goodbye for the shelter, but they were very happy to see Jill finally go off to a loving new home.

“Sad but happy time,” they wrote on Facebook. “Happy life sweet Jill.”

And Bonnie said it was fitting that Jill was adopted on the Fourth of July: “My thing is she got adopted July 4, on Independence Day. Jill got her independence!” she told KDFX.