Dog Living at Shelter For Years Finds Family Thanks to Internet Campaign

By Priscila Korb

Chester, an 8-year-old pit bull mix, finally found his family after years of living in a local animal shelter, thanks to a little help from the online community.

Chester was ”inherited” by the North Fork Animal Welfare League’s (NFAWL) Southold shelter a few months ago after living in the Riverhead location for several years, according to Executive Director Gillian Pultz.

In total, he had been living for five years at a shelter, except for a short while when he was adopted but was returned to the shelter after a few months.

According to Pultz, it’s unusual for a dog to stay at a shelter for so long.

Chester has had several health problems, including having to have surgery on both of his knees, but members could not figure out why he was not getting adopted.

“He’s a big goofball,” Pultz said. “He’s a silly boy.”

Finally, NFAWL members decided it was time to do a little more to help Chester finally get adopted. Little did they know that it would work better than they had ever imagined.

While the NFAWL posts normally pictures of their dogs on the shelter’s own Facebook page, last Wednesday Manager Gabby Stroup decided to launch a Facebook page specifically for the pit bull -- “Chester: Waiting Five Years”.

Unexpectedly, the page went viral, earning thousands of ’Likes’ in a short period of time.

As of Monday, the page has received a total of 7,133 ’likes’.

In addition, as soon as the page went up, the shelter received hundreds of calls, e-mails and Facebook messages from all over the world from people looking to adopt Chester.

“It went crazy,” Stroup said. “I wish there was some formula so we can help the other dogs get adopted.”

Finally, on Saturday, the dog went home to a Lake Ronkonkoma family: Dana Dor, her husband Adi and their two children Aidan and Brandon.

Now that Chester has been adopted, the Facebook page dedicated to him is posting photos of other dogs at the NFWAL to help try to get them adopted too.

Pultz hopes now that the page and the NFAWL itself has received more attention that it will lead to more of their dogs getting adopted.

“Chester’s not unique, there are a lot more dogs just like Chester at local shelters,” Pultz said. “There are so many dogs that need homes and I encourage everyone to visit their local shelters.”

Photo: Chester: Waiting Five Years Facebook page

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