Spoiled Dogs Co.

10/04/2026

Today is - an international day of action that aims to help improve animal welfare standards through increased awareness and education. Veterinary professionals play an important role in protecting animal welfare, and AVMA is proud to support the profession in that work. 🌎🌍

From pets and horses to livestock, poultry, laboratory animals, zoo and wildlife species, AVMA resources help guide veterinary professionals in their commitment to animal welfare in every setting. Explore AVMA’s animal welfare resources: https://bit.ly/4cTs9UV

09/28/2026

It is amazing the things animals can do for us as humans if someone is willing to put in the time!

Most people assume a deaf dog cannot be trained for a high-stakes environment, but Axel is proving them wrong. A 3-year-old Dogo Argentino, Axel was surrendered as a puppy because his original owners realised he could not hear. Today, he is a vital member of the 1st Battalion, 125th Infantry Regiment, serving as a ministry dog as he prepares for his upcoming deployment.

Axel knows over 50 commands, including many in sign language. His handler, Sgt. Mollie Karazim, a religious affairs specialist with the Michigan National Guard, adopted him as a puppy and spent years building a system of visual cues and hand signals. She noted that training a deaf dog is very different, explaining that Axel has to trust her, and they have built that trust from the start.

The transition to military life required Axel to prove he could commit to the job. He now works alongside soldiers in the field or in Humvees, wearing a vest and collar made specifically for his ministry duties. Sgt. Karazim shared that when he sees his gear, he knows he is going to drill.

09/13/2026

We will never forget

09/11/2026

08/24/2026

RECALL ALERT: Fromm Family Foods of Mequon, Wisconsin is recalling 3,852 cases of Fromm Turkey Pâté Wet canned dog food and 1,973 cases of Fromm Diner Classics Milo's Meatloaf Pâté Wet canned dog food due to potential metal contamination. MORE: https://bit.ly/4wKXu32

08/07/2026

Check your local shelter for reduced to no cost during the month of August for Clear The Shelters event

WOW – JUST WOW! A total of 80 animals found homes yesterday on the first day of our Clear the Shelters adoption event – tying our record for the most animals adopted in one day! Thanks to everyone who visited, fell in love, and took home a new family member yesterday!

NO-FEE ADOPTIONS CONTINUE today-Sunday for cats and dogs 6 mo+ at all ARL locations (this includes pets in foster homes), thanks to Hill’s Pet Nutrition generously covering those fees. Use the $ you save to stock up on toys, treats and supplies in our Animal House store!

You can see all our currently adoptable pets, plus locations/hours at ARL-Iowa.org. Spread the word to help keep the momentum going!

Pictured: A few of the amazing pets who are looking for homes right now!

Sponsored by Hill’s Pet Nutrition.

07/04/2026

She made it home!

06/29/2026

This brings tears to my eyes! I have been watching this story unfold on social media pages. And to be brining this sweet girl back home to Iowa from West Virginia! Those who have volunteered to bring her home🥹 Thank you to those who did not give up.
I wish this love for every shelter dog out there!

📱🐕 A deadly crash on an Iowa highway claimed a life and left a dog named Hennessy completely alone.

She survived the impact. She walked away from the wreckage. But the person she loved most in the world did not.

Hennessy didn't understand what had happened. All she knew was that her owner was gone. The familiar voice. The familiar touch. The familiar smell. None of it was there anymore.

She was alone. Scared. In a strange place surrounded by strangers. Animal control found her, trembling and confused, and brought her to the Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association.

A shelter is not a home. It is not the place where she belonged. But for now, it was all she had.

The shelter staff looked at her and saw more than just another stray. They saw a dog who had clearly been loved. Her worn red collar told a story. There was a phone number on it – but it was only a partial number.

Barely enough to go on. Almost nothing.

They could have given up. They could have said "we tried" and moved on to the next animal. There are always more animals, always more cases, always more heartbreak to tend to.

But they didn't give up.

Staff members spent hours tracking down the family. They made call after call, following fragment after fragment, refusing to let Hennessy's story end in a kennel.

Then they found them.

The family had been grieving. They had lost someone they loved. They had no idea Hennessy had survived. They thought she had died in the crash too.

When shelter staff told them Hennessy was alive – that she had survived and was safe – there were tears. Grief and relief all tangled together, impossible to separate. The family wanted to see her. They needed to see her.

But they lived far away, in Iowa. They couldn't just show up at the shelter. So the staff arranged something else.

A FaceTime call.

Someone on the shelter team held up a phone to Hennessy's kennel. The screen flickered to life. A familiar face appeared.

And then – the most beautiful thing happened.

Hennessy's ears perked up. Her eyes widened. Her tail started wagging. She recognized that voice. She recognized that face. She knew those people.

She had lost her owner. She had been through something no dog should ever have to endure. But she knew she wasn't alone anymore.

"When I saw the video of her face lighting up at the sound of their voices, I just broke down," a shelter staff member said. "She knew she was going home."

The FaceTime call lasted only minutes. But in those minutes, something shifted. Hennessy wasn't just a dog in a kennel anymore. She was a member of a family. And her family was waiting for her.

Hennessy is now going home. She will leave the shelter and return to the people who love her. The family that lost someone will have a piece of them still here – alive, wagging her tail, and ready to heal together.

This is what rescue looks like. This is what love looks like.

Someone saw a scared dog with a partial phone number and refused to give up. Someone made a call. Someone held up a phone.

And a dog who had lost everything found her way back to the people who loved her.

Drop a 🐾 for Hennessy – and for the shelter staff who refused to let her story end in a kennel.

06/25/2026

Bringing her home to familiar voices after losing her person!

https://www.facebook.com/share/1EPcYTtP8j/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Hennessy survived the crash that took her person.

On June 23, 63-year-old Iowa truck driver Jeffrey Simmons was traveling west on I-64 near South Charleston, West Virginia, when his tractor-trailer crashed near Exit 54. According to local reports, the cab ended up hanging off the edge of a bridge as smoke and flames rose from the front of the truck.

Jeffrey did not survive.

But somehow, his dog Hennessy did.

Fire crews were able to rescue her from the wreckage alive and, incredibly, without serious injury. She was then taken to the Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association, where staff began trying to figure out who she belonged to and how to get her back to the people who loved her.

That is where this story turns from tragedy into something a little softer.

Using the information on Hennessy’s collar, the shelter traced her back to an Iowa area code. They connected with the Animal Rescue League of Marshalltown, which helped locate Jeffrey’s remaining family. By the next morning, Hennessy was able to FaceTime with them.

The shelter said seeing and hearing familiar faces seemed to lift her spirits tremendously.

That detail is the part that stays with me.

In the middle of shock, loss, sirens, fire, and confusion, this dog heard the voices of home.

Now Jeffrey’s family is making plans to travel from Iowa to West Virginia to bring Hennessy back with them, so she can return to the people who still belong to her.

It is such a heartbreaking story, but also such a powerful reminder of how dogs carry grief too.

Hennessy lost the person who was beside her in that truck.

But because people cared enough to help, she did not lose her family too.