KAPAA — Honey Girl is still looking for a family of her own. And her foster parents want to make sure she’ll have one that gives her all the love the young pup deserves. After all, she’s had a rough
KAPAA — Honey Girl is still looking for a family of her own.
And her foster parents want to make sure she’ll have one that gives her all the love the young pup deserves.
After all, she’s had a rough start in life, left to die on a parking lot two months ago, stuffed inside a plastic bag and with a rope tied around her neck.
When Marla Schaefer heard about Honey Girl, a 10-week-old puppy found in a shopping cart at the Safeway store parking lot in Kapaa in September, Schaefer immediately volunteered to foster the abandoned puppy. Two weeks later, she took Honey Girl into her Kapaa home.
“I rescue dogs,” said Schaefer, who has found homes for several furry friends on Kauai and on the Mainland, through the Pet Transfer Program at Kauai Humane Society, a program that finds Hawaii animals Mainland owners.
Honey Girl’s back story is a unique one.
On Sept. 15, Safeway worker Melissa Chipman nursed the abandoned dog back to life, after a vendor found her almost dead from near suffocation. Two days later, the story landed on the front page of The Garden Island. Shortly after that, the National Humane Society offered a $5,000 reward for information that led to an arrest in the case.
Schaefer wasn’t låooking for an addition to her family because she’s got a whole pack of rescue dogs and more than a handful of cats. And she’s got a husband, too — who happens to work at Safeway.
“I called Melissa (Chipman) and told her I would be a back up in case she needed someone to take care of the puppy,” Schaefer said.
Schaefer said her main concern was that the puppy would be fixed before being adopted, so she decided to foster Honey Girl two weeks after Chipman got her, despite the crowded house.
Honey Girl is current on her shots and has already been fixed. She plays all day long, and she’s not shy.
“She mellows out really good after you pet her and give her a belly rub,” Schaefer said.
And she’s pretty intelligent. At only four months old, the soft-coated puppy comes when called, knows how to sit on command and is just about potty trained.
Schaefer said Honey Girl loves to play with other dogs and cats, but possible future owners should be warned, the pup is teething.
Schaefer and her husband are looking for someone who will make Honey Girl a part of their family. She has a “very soft coat,” and is probably some kind of a herding dog, Schaefer said.
If someone who knows how to deal with a puppy comes forward now, they might be able to take her, Schaefer said. If not, she said she can wait until Honey Girl’s baby teeth are gone.
Those interested in Honey Girl can call Schaefer at 821-8013
