Tell them Minnie sent you

Sue Gregson,

We got Minnie in 2014 from a Philly rescue called Diamonds in the Ruff. She was part of a Disney litter: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daphne. My husband was convinced they were Boston Terriers, but they were half beagle and half staffy. Our kids saw Digby being walked across the lawn while we were meeting Minnie and fell in love with “the brown dog,” so we went home with two pups about four months old. Best decision ever.

Digby died of lymphoma more than two years ago and Minnie howled for the first time when his body left our home. She didn’t stop whimpering until we put his collar on her neck. It took months before she stopped moping and I think she mourned in small ways until yesterday when she died of liver failure. Their deaths broke my heart, but their lives filled it with love so the memories will help knit it back together.

I was Minnie’s person. She loved “sleepy-times” (naps with me), chasing and eating bubbles, and Purina Busy Bones. She had no patience for too much affection from anyone else and perfected the art of side-eye as a rambunctious pup. She had a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with the groundhog under our deck and more than once got her fat, wriggly body stuck trying to get to the beast. She had The. Best. Ears: delicate flaps of black satin that I would run between my fingers to calm myself like a toddler with a blanket.

Rescues like Diamonds in the Ruff kept dogs out of Philly’s open-intake pet shelter ACCT (Animal Care and Control Team). The shelter still depends on rescues and fosters to pull dogs from their packed facility. So far in 2026, 493 animals were fostered and 3,761 were saved. Those numbers increase every day. Despite their best efforts, healthy animals are euthanized daily for space. As an open-intake shelter they cannot turn away animals. They process 18,000 animals annually. There is only so much room.

Philly took a step in the right direction banning backyard breeding, but it desperately needs another shelter and a low-cost or free spay and neuter clinic. In the meantime, people should consider adopting a shelter animal before hitting up breeders. We’ve had several rescue pets of various ages and they all were/are wonderful companions.

Now through May 17, ACCT, in conjunction with the Bissell Pet Foundation’s Clear the Shelters initiative, is offering $10 adoption fees. If you’re thinking of starting or adding to your pet family, head on over to the North Philly shelter. They are open seven days a week for adoptions. Tell them the late, great Miss Minnie sent you.

 

Sue Gregson

Sue Gregson is a business writer and kids’ book author who used to work for the Delaware and Maryland state governments in the education, legislative, affordable housing, and community development arenas. She’s volunteered for federal, state, and local political campaigns for nearly 50 years. Sue is not growing old gracefully.

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