Saving Seniors
by WIlliam Schmidt
Breanne and Abel Escalante wanted to help senior dogs, so when Breanne spotted a Facebook post looking for someone to take on a 10-year-old, she decided to go for it. It would be their first foster.
.
As it turned out, that 10-year-old senior dog was in fact a 10-month-old puppy. No matter. As Breanne put it, “we were going to foster the next dog that needed us.”
Since then, Breanne and Abel have fostered 14 dogs from SOLR, and adopted six.
“The feeling you get from helping these dogs who were just left outside or left behind is just incredibly rewarding,” said Breanne, who said the family is drawn to older dogs.
If there is an older dog that needs help, the Escalantes will try to make room. Breanne jokingly refers to it as “restocking.”
After their two older dogs passed away in May 2021, they rescued a pooch named Scooby, and then adopted Wyatt and Arlo and Biggie, as their new “resident dogs.”
And just a couple of months ago, they adopted two more – Charlie and Harper. That brings the household total to eight residents, plus Lila – a foster. "We’ve got all the colors now!” said Breanne.
Breanne says that taking in fosters is “perhaps the most rewarding job of all -- bringing an unknown dog into your home and letting them know that they are safe, they no longer have to want for anything, whether it is food or affection or shelter.”
The foster they remember most is Teva, a beautiful mix of Golden Retriever and black Lab who had been used as breeding stock and abandoned to a high kill shelter when SOLR stepped in. “Teva was matted, filthy, terrified and had a horrible ear infection that was never tended to,” Breanne said. “We brought her home and bathed her, fed her consistently, loved her continuously, combed her for hours and she was the best.”
The tough part, as so many fosters know, was the day when Teva went off to her new adopted family, and the Escalantes had to say goodbye. “My son, Liam, was head over heels in love and when we took her to her perfect forever home, we all shared a tear or two as we left. It’s hard. But if you are not falling in love with each and every dog, even just a little bit, are you truly a Lab person, lol.”
The Escalantes get updates from Teva’s new family, and say they are comforted knowing “she is home and we know we’ve done the best thing we do for her in giving her that second chance.”
Even with eight dogs at home, the Escalantes say they will continue to foster. “Why?” asked Breanne. “Because each and every dog we foster is another one saved. The look in their eyes when they know they are safe is enough to melt you. If my seven-year-old son can see and understand it, then I think every adult can too, if they just allow themselves.”
| 
