June 12 2009

Animal Friends: Muttville rescues Bay Area senior dogs

The cocker spaniel was found wandering on the streets of San Jose two weeks ago. He is blind and deaf, and his fur was so matted you couldn’t see his eyes.

He would have been put down if someone hadn’t thought to call Sherri Franklin in San Francisco. She is the founder and executive director of a wonderful organization called Muttville, which rescues and seeks homes for senior dogs, at least 7 years old.

Franklin describes herself as “Muttville Central” because she takes in so many dogs herself, but she has a network of 23 foster homes around the Bay Area, including on the Peninsula, where dogs are given a second chance. Some of them have cancer and other diseases, but these kind people take them in to give them a warm, loving place for their last days.

Others might call them rescuers and foster parents. I call them saints. …

June 8 2009

Animal welfare spotlight: Muttville

Sherri Franklin has never met a graying muzzle she didn’t like.

“So many people think that puppies are cute. I feel the same way about senior dogs,” she says. “There’s something special about old, sweet mutts — it’s something in their eyes. It’s like you can see their soul.”

A long-time SF/SPCA volunteer, Sherri founded Muttville, the San Francisco-based senior dog rescue organization, about two and a half years ago. “I saw so many older dogs languishing in shelters,” she says. “Even when they are in good health, senior dogs are often considered unadoptable.” So, one by one, she started bringing them home to clean them up and find them new families. …

April 21 2009

Perfect Match

The Grey Muzzle Organization helps support Muttville’s Seniors for Seniors program, which matches our wonderful dogs with wonderful senior citizens. Here’s an update from their newsletter “told in pictures – the happy smiles from people and dogs!”

April 2009

Welcome to Muttville

Most of us have probably walked into an animal shelter at some point in our lives and scanned past hopeful senior dogs in search of a young, energetic puppy. What most people don’t realize is that older dogs make the best pets! A little calmer, past their rambunctious stage, having already chewed their share of cross-trainers and stilettos, these dogs are simply looking to give families all the love they have to offer. For this reason, San Francisco shelter Muttville has a mission that deserves our utmost support.

A nonprofit organization working in collaboration with other animal shelters, Muttville is dedicated to finding homes for senior dogs that, tragically, would be euthanized if not adopted. …

April 2009

Muttville Makes Happy Endings Happen

When I decided to dedicate some of my free time to a good dog cause, I chose to volunteer with Muttville, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization whose mission is to create better lives for older dogs by providing rescue, foster, adoption, and hospice services. Muttville rescues senior dogs from shelters all over California, provided they are friendly with humans and other dogs. …

Generally the process goes something like this: Muttville get an email or phone call from a shelter where there is a dog (or dogs) in danger of euthanasia. Transport is arranged to take the dog to one of Muttville’s partnering veterinarian clinics to take care of whatever medical issues there might be. Grooming and other essential services are often provided, then each dog is placed in a foster home while awaiting adoption by a forever family. …

January 2009

Wonder dogs: The benefits of loving a senior

Sherri Franklin is the Director of Muttville, an organization that finds homes for senior dogs. She told FETCH that her number one reason for loving seniors is that they’re already set in their ways. “What you see is what you get,” she commented. “Their personalities are there.” …

Thanks for Muttville

I read this article in my local newspaper over the weekend, and it sounded like a belated Thanksgiving story. A lot of dogs can give thanks for a place called Muttville. …

November 29 2008

Dogs in their golden years get second chance at Muttville

Estella is missing an eye. Ruthie has an inoperable tumor. Stimpy D has arthritis in his hips.

Geriatric dogs, they would have been euthanized if not for Muttville – a new San Francisco nonprofit that specializes in finding homes for senior dogs that still have a few good years left.

Founder Sherri Franklin has discovered a niche adoption market for old dogs among veterinarians, do-gooders and senior citizens.

People like 78-year-old Marcel Doubovitch of San Francisco, who called Muttville in tears after her husband of 40 years died.

Franklin matched Doubovitch with an elder Chihuahua that had been abused – left outdoors in a wooden soapbox for several years.

Now widow and canine are inseparable.

“I’m so happy!” Doubovitch said. “Before, I would think of my husband and cry. I don’t now because she’s such a love bug – absolutely something special. I love her dearly.” …

October 14 2008

SF Chronicle columnist Leah Garchik on the Gogol Bordello benefit for Muttville

As mentioned here last week, Gogol Bordello played loud, raucous, Gypsy punk at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. That night at Slim’s, the tough guys played again, at a sold-out benefit for Muttville Senior Dog Rescue.

Muttville’s site features aw-inspiring pictures of elderly dogs needing homes. A supporter had sent a video to friends who forwarded it to Gogol Bordello drummer Eliot Ferguson, who spread the word to bandmates. Everyone loves a puppy; it takes a real softy to honor the elders. As lead singer Eugene Hutz proclaimed at the show’s start, “This is for all the little doggies!”

October 2008

Rescue dogs: Seniors with some livin' left to do

Senior editor Leslie Smith travels to Muttville – and learns that for some dogs, life begins when there’s a place to call home.

Sherri Franklin is making up for lost time. Until age 35, she hadn’t so much as walked a dog, let alone shared her home with one. These days, however, she lives amongst an entire pack. Franklin is the founder of Muttville-a sanctuary for senior dogs whose time has come to… keep on living.

Emphasis on living. Though comfort and quality of life are primary concerns, Muttville isn’t just hospice care or an infirmary with a clever name. It’s not her aim, she says, to prolong life simply for the sake of staving off the inevitable. Rather, it’s to make sure healthy, older dogs can continue to thrive-and to give dogs who’ve never known affection and compassion a chance to experience it before they go.

[A description of Smith’s visit to Muttville follows.]