An animal shelter staff has been wondering why a sweet dog like Max could be overlooked for adoption.
The shelter executive director thought of exchanging places with Max — her in the concrete kennel and Max in her office — to drum up adoption for the adorable dog.It garnered the attention of a lot of people, especially the man who would adopt Max and bring him home.
Life is good in a shelter if you have been living on the streets for a long time. But to be in a human’s forever home is the best.

For Max who has already been looked over for 450 days at a shelter, it can be sad. So, to drum up adoption for sweet Max, Susquehanna SPCA executive director Stacie Haynes decided to swap places with Max for a day. She stayed in the shelter’s concrete kennel while Max stayed in her office with his name on as executive director and wearing a tie.Haynes’ day went “with the occasional bathroom break and an enrichment toy or two, watching people and dogs pass me by throughout the day.”

The swap caught the attention of television and social media.

It drove Ed Panus of Moravia, a village in the Finger Lakes region, to visit the shelter and in a flash, the two bonded and became best of friends. They went home together.

Moravia said, “I noticed he was almost like the dog I had that passed away here at the end of last year.”

When shelter staff visited the two, they learned that Max and Panus enjoy swimming in a lake or just plain bonding on the couch. They wrote on Facebook that they were blown away by the happiness and contentment that Max has been enjoying outside his kennel.

Rehoming animals as soon as possible would really change their lives and give them the fulfillment they need. Haynes said, “Max is full of life and we could not be happier for him.”