Persephone’s long road home: She found family. They found healing.
Persephone the dog — featured two weeks ago by The Charlotte Observer as one of the longest-term wards of the local animal shelter — has found her forever home. And, she is helping the couple that adopted her almost as much as they’re helping her.
Emma Walters and Robert Cronvich adopted Persephone earlier this month after taking her on a staycation.
As soon as you open the door to their home, Persephone greets you. Tail wagging, tongue out, excited for any attention you give her.
Cronvich and Walters said they were drawn to the fact that she has been through a lot and said they felt a connection to her in that way. They are both in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, they said.
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“Having her around allows me to, rather than getting a place of where I’m isolating and focused on myself and my problems, I have her to take care of, so I get to be reliable to her,” Cronvich said.
Walters agreed.
“She’s got physical scars, like I do,” she said. “We’ve got emotional scars that we’re working through, and it’s nice to just be on that journey with her.”
The 8-year-old black brindle pit bull terrier was rescued from Charlotte’s streets. She’s been through some rough stuff and hasn’t always had the life she deserved, Walters said.
She had been looking for her forever home for 251 days before adoption, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Animal Care and Control shelter. The longest ever wait for a dog to be adopted from the shelter, the agency says, is just over a year.
Animal shelter capacity issue
Walters and Cronvich have discovered that Persephone is partially deaf and blind, so they are learning some signs to communicate with her. Her cleft lip is not causing any lasting medical complications and they say she sleeps with her paw in her mouth every night.
They say she is a prolific chewer who loves shoes, and is very curious. She found one of the Observer photographer’s mics on the kitchen table and began chewing on it while we were there.
“She’s got a big personality, she’s very active. She’s 8 but you wouldn’t know that she’s 8,” Walters said.
Walters and Cronvich said if anyone is thinking about adopting a dog, they should consider a rescue.
The animal shelter’s capacity is nearly full. According to its website, as of Thursday it has fewer than 10 kennels open for incoming dogs. Capacity issues have fluctuated for several months, as the Observer reported in April the agency pleaded with the public to adopt pets, dogs specifically.
