Almost Home Animal Shelter's Adoptable Pets of the Week

Almost Home Animal Shelter—located at 9140-C Pennsauken Highway, in Pennsauken— serves as a temporary home for many animals in the area. The shelter and its animal control operation are both supported by the Collingswood Stray Animal Organization.

From strays to new litters to rescues, the animals housed here each have a past that will shape their future. 

Would your family be the right family for one of these pets? Read each animal's story and decide for yourself. Maybe your home will be the bridge from "Almost Home" to "Home For Good."

Gunther's Story—

Gunther is a good boy. Shelter staff estimate the pup to be about 2 years old, and say he's a Chesapeake Bay retriever/pit bull mix.

A medium-sized dog, Gunther's brown coat is accented by a white blaze that runs from his chest up underneath his neck.

Timid but curious, Gunther was led into the shelter's front room to meet a family. After a moment's hesitation—which had Gunther laying down on the floor—he sensed that everything was just fine.

It became evident as soon as Gunther felt comfortable. Instantaneously, he rose off the floor, padded over to a woman, laid his head on her knee and gave her hand a never-ending kiss. 

When he felt the hand was properly bathed, Gunther turned to his rescuer—shelter Director Nancy Welsh. Arriving at Welsh's chair, he hopped up on hind legs, laying one paw on her shoulder. The other paw he used to gently swat the air around her face, as if saying, "If only I had opposable thumbs, I'd pet your head, too."

Welsh says Gunther was a stray dog she found and rescued this year, on the same week as Super Bowl Sunday. 

"He's a loving, quiet dog," Welsh said, petting Gunther with reassurance.

Welsh did note that Gunther is a little fearful of men. 

"He's never acted on that fear, never done anything like that," she said. "But when a man comes around, he does back down."

Welsh confirmed that Gunther is a dog who could live well with children, but recommends older children.

"He's good with kids, but I think he'd feel better in a house with older children, simply because it's quieter and he'd feel more at ease," said Welsh.

Besides having this cuddly pooch all to yourself, adding him to your home has even more benefits—from the time he arrived at Almost Home, Nancy said Gunther seems to already have been housebroken. 

And he's a smarty. Gunther can sit and give his paw on command.

Rudy's Story—

"Rudy is perfect. Just the perfect dog," said shelter Director Nancy Welsh before disappearing in the back to let Rudy out.

Moments later, he appeared—his short, reddish-brown coat and light eyes accented immediately by the red bandana he wore. The fact that it was covered with  hearts didn't stop this boy from proudly parading around in the bandana.

Shelter staff say Rudy's anywhere from 2 to 3 years old—and while he could be mixed with another breed, staff say Rudy is made mostly of pit bull.

Besides a jagged splotch of pure white above his heart, Rudy's a brown boy.

"I picked Rudy up in the middle of the night. He was a stray," said Welsh. "He was a good dog from the very beginning, and then our trainer worked with him—and now he's even better."

As Welsh beamed down at him, Rudy unmistakably beamed right back up at her.

"He'd be a great advocate for pit bulls," said Welsh. "To change the minds of people who are wary of the breed."

Rudy's forever home? Welsh said it must include an active owner. 

"Pit bulls need exercise and activity. And if they don't get that activity, they'll find it elsewhere," said Welsh of shoe-chewing and other fun activities.

Welsh also deemed Rudy the perfect pet for households with children and other pets. 

"He's very, very well-behaved," Welsh said.

But before Rudy and his heart bandana made their exit, a shelter volunteer supplied one final pro-Rudy characteristic—"The Army Crawl."

It's when Rudy feels something secretive or sneaky is going on, and drops to his belly so he can inch-and-crawl his way out of the situation. 

Fluffa's Story—

Fluffa is a pretty kitty. 

If her green eyes weren't enough to stop you dead in your tracks, her fur is. Fluffa is a long-haired calico, who looks more like a full-bred Baby Doll Persian than anything else. 

But the best thing about Fluffa? She doesn't know how pretty she is.

She won't pose for the camera, she closes her eyes every time the flash goes off and she doesn't need you to tell her how beautiful she is. She's a laid-back, relaxed girl.

Shelter staff estimate Fluffa to be somewhere close to 4 years old. 

"She was in a trailer on Route 130," said shelter Director Nancy Welsh. "Her owner was an old man, who passed away, and the man's children brought her here."

Fluffa, whose name obviously pegs her a fluffy cat, somehow isn't a big cat, either. Her fur is fluffy—and used to be fluffier, before shelter staff trimmed it—but it doesn't add to her tiny frame. The cat may be 4 years old, but she'll always be the size of a young adult cat.

Just don't try to dress her up and play photo shoot.

Snow Pea's Story—

Named after a vegetable, Snow Pea the cat is far more exciting than snow pea the vegetable.

Instead of green, Snow Pea is white, black and orange—otherwise known as a short-haired calico.

A 7-month-old kitty, Snow Pea has never had a real home to call her own.

"She was a kitten when she came here, just a baby," said shelter Director Nancy Welsh. "And she's been here ever since. We're all she's ever known."

But Snow Pea will likely find a pod of her own, and soon. Her personality could charm the socks off even a dog.

Walking into the Cat Room at Almost Home, Snow Pea is the first thing you'll see. Not because her kennel is across from the door, set at eye-level with a human—but because she makes herself seen. Even though her kennel sits on ground level, way to the right of the door.

It's because, entering the Cat Room, the first thing you see is a whitish flash cross the corner of your eye.  

You turn to the right, trying to place the movement's source. You're confused, so she does it again, and again, until you can clearly see the little cat shooting from one wall of her kennel to the other like a lightning bolt.

Once she's got your attention, she keeps it. Snow Pea does this mostly by extending her entire arm through the slats of her kennel and swatting playfully at the air around you.

Any other cat's arm would have fallen off, but Snow Pea continues to race herself across the length of the kennel and run back to the slats to swat you, saying, "See that? I can do it again if you missed it."

Once she has you mesmerized with her race, she knows you're hanging out for bit. Snow Pea takes this opportunity to rub her side over the kennel slats, showing you she's just as loving as she is active.

Snow Pea is one of those cats you remember when you have to defend all cats against a feline-hater. She's the cat you mention whenever someone says, "I'm really just not a cat person."

She's the story you tell, about those rare cats who act more like a dog than a cat. And she's the cat that eventually turns a feline-hater around.