TAYLOR, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — November is recognized as Adopt a Senior Pet Month.
Senior pets are often overlooked at the shelter with people choosing a puppy or a kitten in their place.
You may not get too many years with a senior pet. But Jeanie Sluck from Lackawanna County says those short years she spent with her seniors hold a big place in her heart.
“I’ve learned a lot from my animals. I’ve learned patience, I’ve learned acceptance and I learned compassion so they just give you something back,” said Jeanie Sluck, Taylor Community Library Director.
Meet Jeanie Sluck and her sixteen-year-old Yorkie, Nelly.
“You know everybody wants something that’s brand new. Whether it’s a house, a car, and who doesn’t want a puppy or a kitten,” asked Sluck.
She says as pets get older they tend to lose their popularity for most people, but not for Jeanie.
“When they get to be a senior, really a lot of people don’t want them and that’s where my heart goes out to is the older ones because there’s a lot of life left in them and they’re just such a joy. They really are,” Sluck added.
Jeanie’s been adopting senior pets for more than thirty years. She says her love of shelter animals started at a young age.
“It was from the time I was in the fourth grade and we went to the shelter for our Girl Scout badge. And my heart always laid in shelter animals,” Sluck continued.
Now Jeanie gives back to the animals in her community serving on three different animal welfare boards in Lackawanna County.
She also gives back to animals in her home by taking them in for hospice.
“If I have the space I’ll take anybody anything that I can help,” Sluck continued.
She says the short time she spends with animals holds a big place in her heart.
“I wanna make their last time here with us happy so that they know they’re surrounded by love and warmth and comfort and that they know that they’re in just a nice quiet environment,” Sluck explained.
Sluck says that by taking a senior pet home you’re changing more lives than your own.
“Because how they feel as though they’re accepted, they’re loved and they sense it. They really truly do. Right nells,” Sluck said.
