Mr. Higgins had several homes before connecting with his forever foster parents as a 7-year-old in 2020. We know his birthday is in 2013, and we know he was at a Colorado shelter in 2015, adopted but then surrendered in 2016 for financial reasons. He was returned to the shelter with sensitivity issues that he had not been assessed with a year earlier. SWESR placed him with a foster parent who’s heart was in the right place, but they couldn’t provide him the exercise he needed. He was also suffering from separation anxiety, so it was clear he needed to find another foster home. His new foster said she wanted to adopt him and she was planning on moving to a property with a fenced yard. As many readers know, a 3-year-old English Setter in apartment living is difficult due to our breed’s energy levels. 

In 2013 Kevin and Lisa saw a 4-month old Scout on a website, and they reached out with interest in meeting him. This would have been an easy meet up for Southern Californians, as everyone involved lived within an hour of each other. Young Scout had already had two families as his first mother received him as a gift from her boyfriend, but it turned out she was allergic to dogs. She then re-homed him to a friend who lived in an apartment but couldn’t manage him, at which point Scout was posted on-line, where Kevin and Lisa discovered him. At the last minute, Scout’s family cancelled the meet and greet and, unbeknownst to Kevin and Lisa, put the pup into breed rescue.

Seven-month-old Matty was surrendered to SWESR in October 2022 by an older couple who could no longer provide Matty the home she needed due to their developing health difficulties. Bob and Lona had lost one of their English Setters just four weeks earlier. Lona was looking at SWESR’s Facebook page when she saw Matty’s picture and she was immediately hit with the gut feeling of “that’s my dog”. This awareness was difficult, as Bob and Lona had agreed that after 30 years of marriage and a total of 6 English Setters, they would now become a one dog family. But still, the feeling, the knowledge: “that’s my dog.”