Christena Austin is happy with her 11-year-old Miniature Pinscher mix. Photo courtesy of Sacramento County

SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - There’s no better way to start the new year than by adopting your new best friend from Bradshaw Animal Shelter. To ring in a new year of adoptions, the shelter celebrated the first adoption of 2024: an 11-year-old dog named Mini. Mini, a Miniature Pinscher mix and senior dog, was exactly what Christena Austin was looking for.

“Old dogs need a good home too,” Austin said. She knows a thing or two about adopting older dogs: she met her last pup, Violet, when Violet was 12 1/2 years old. At first, Austin recalls walking away from Violet, thinking she was too old to adopt, but “something made me go back for her,” Austin said. The pair spent five memorable years together, but Violet recently passed away at the age of 17 1/2. Austin felt called to give another old dog a new lease on life and is ecstatic to welcome Mini into her home. “She will be treated like a queen,” Austin says.

There are still so many wonderful pets who are looking for forever homes. If one of your resolutions going into 2024 is to live a healthier lifestyle, a pet can help you get there. Studies have shown that pets can have positive effects on our health: pets can increase opportunities to exercise, get outside, and socialize. Regular walking or playing with pets can decrease blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and triglyceride levels, and the companionship that pets provide can help manage feelings of loneliness and anxiety. 

Ready to add a new pet to your home? Before visiting Bradshaw Animal Shelter, you can view all of the dogs, cats, and other animals available for adoption, or you can take a walk around in person to see whom you fall in love with. To help match you with your new best friend, the shelter offers adoption counseling, and if you’re looking to adopt a dog and have an existing dog at home, you can bring them to the shelter for a meet and greet to make sure it’s a good fit for your four-legged family members as well.

Your new pet’s adoption includes their spay/neuter surgery, up-to-date vaccinations and monthly preventatives, a microchip, and a one-year license for Sacramento County residents. Adoption fees are, for example, $50 for adult dogs one year and older, $75 for puppies, and $50 for cats and kittens.

Bradshaw Animal Shelter is located at 3839 Bradshaw Rd. in Sacramento and is open Tuesday through Sunday from 12 p.m. - 5 p.m. with extended hours on Wednesdays from 12 p.m. - 6 p.m. You can also meet adoptable pets at Petco adoption center located at 8840 Madison Ave. in Fair Oaks from 12 p.m. - 5 p.m. on Wednesdays and 1 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.