Town of Huntington Shelter Dogs to Get Off-Leash Playtime

Shelter dogs just want to have a forever home with a family who will spoil them.

While these pups wait for the perfect family to sweep them off their paws, they can now do so while running around with other shelter dogs.

The Huntington Town Animal Shelter plans to begin “Dogs Playing for Life”, a program that creates play groups for shelter dogs so they can burn off all their puppy energy.

All this extra exercise will help the dogs counteract the stress of living in a shelter and it will help the shelter staff identify which dogs are ready for adoption.

“Letting shelter dogs get together to socialize daily helps them to cope with the stressful kennel environment while waiting for someone to take them home,” Dogs Playing for Life founder Aimee Sadler said.

The program will be told through the eyes of Dixie, a pit bull mix at the shelter. The Town will follow Dixie around and people can see her story and how she responds to the program through online videos.

Sadler and her team recently began training shelter workers and program volunteers through a classroom session and hands-on work with some of the dogs that are housed at the shelter, on Deposit Road in East Northport.

The program began at the Southampton Town shelter 17 years ago and has spread to more than 100 shelters across the world.

“Playing for Life gives the public the opportunity to see for themselves just how magnificent [the dogs] really are- in all their glory, just doing what dogs do reveling in their connection with each other,“ said Jane Barbato, who runs the volunteer program at the shelter for the League for Animal Protection.

“We are excited about the potential of the Dogs Playing for Life Program to stimulate dogs at the shelter and prepare them for their lives when they find new homes,” Town Supervisor Frank P. Petrone said.

The Town of Huntington and the League for Animal Protection are paying about $6,000 for the program.

Image via Town of Huntington

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