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Humane Society of Greater Rochester

Midnight is a special girl who had a rough start to her life. Found abandoned in an apartment for what was estimated to be nearly a month, she was rescued by our Humane Law Enforcement officers and brought to Lollypop Farm in August 2022. As our officers worked on finding Midnight’s owner, our Klingenstein Veterinary Clinic and kennel staff nurtured her back to health.

During her time here, Midnight was also placed in our Champion Program. This program allows dogs needing special attention to be paired with a staff member who takes time out of their workday to work on tricks, play with, or spend quality time with their assigned dog. Midnight and her Champion most enjoyed snuggling, running outside, and going to Starbucks for a pup cup.

As the days went by, there were no viable leads as to where the person who abandoned Midnight may be. After a certain amount of days, by law, Midnight was officially considered to be in Lollypop Farm’s care and could be placed up for adoption. Days passed, and no one seemed interested in meeting her. A special adoption event came and went; still, not a single person asked about Midnight. Our staff was confused because Midnight is such a fun-loving, goofy girl. Why did no one seem to want her?

Dogs like Midnight are not alone. The animal welfare world is currently experiencing a decrease in adoptions, therefore making animals’ length of time at the shelter longer than in the past.

Just as Midnight and our staff lost hope, a couple came in asking to meet Midnight! They already had one dog at home, so our adoption counselors set up a meeting time for the dogs. After two meetings, it was clear that Midnight had made a new friend and may be a good fit for this family. The couple took her on an adoption sleepover (sleepovers provide potential adopters up to 2 weeks to bring the pet into their home to see if they are a good fit or not). They completed the adoption paperwork within four days, and Midnight was now officially part of their family!

A few days after the adoption was complete, we received a photo from the couple that melted our staff’s hearts. Midnight and her new sibling were sitting in front of a Christmas tree. It was clear that Midnight had found her perfect home just in time for the holidays.

Please take a moment to check out other pets patiently waiting for their new homes at lollypop.org/adopt/adoptable-pets.


Interested in adopting but don’t know where to start?

We asked the couple if they would answer some questions about their journey of adopting Midnight. Here is what they had to say:

Q: What drew you to Midnight, specifically, out of all the dogs available?
A: We love dogs like Midnight. Our dog Oakley is a boxer-bulldog mix and has the best, goofiest personality, and when we saw Midnight’s face – her tongue out, her teeth sticking out – we knew she would be just as fun and goofy.


Q: What was it like the first time you met her?
A: At first, we didn’t have an appointment, so we only saw her in her kennel, but we fell in love with her just seeing her. We made an appointment to meet her the next day. When we met her, she first flopped on her back to get belly rubs and scratches. She was so affectionate! We then made two more appointments to bring Oakley to meet her, and after that, we adopted her.


Q: How did it go at home with continuing to have the dogs get to know each other?
A: For the first few days, we had Midnight stay in our office with a baby gate up so she and Oakley could still see and sniff each other. We took them on walks letting them get nose-to-nose and thoroughly checking each other out. Once we were comfortable with how they acted on walks and in the house, we took the gate away and had supervised play time in the living room. After several successful play sessions and more well-behaved walks, we decided they were ready to integrate fully. We keep them in separate rooms when they eat or when no one is home, but other than that, they go outside and play together, snuggle on the couch together, and sleep with us together every night!


Q: What do you enjoy doing most together?
A: Our favorite things are playing and cuddling. Oakley and Midnight love to play together and snuggle up on the couch. They are both such affectionate pups with each other and with us. It’s awesome to see them getting along and being happy. When we go to sleep, we all get cozy in bed together, making you not want to ever get out of bed!