Page 41 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2024

HAPPY TAILS FROM HSSM ADOPT, DON’T SHOP.
Every big dog needs a friend with an even bigger heart who’s willing to save them when they are
at their most vulnerable. And that’s who Nicole Matthews is to homeless large breed dogs up and down the Gulf Coast.
Matthews sponsors heartworm-positive pups brought into the Humane Society of South Mississippi and she’s on the list to help any large breed dog in need of life-saving treatment, especially American Pitt Bull Terrier mixes.
“A larger breed is more expensive to treat,” she said. “It’s based on their weight. The dosage and fee go up the bigger they are, and treatment can be expensive. I pay for and sponsor the larger dogs that I know would have a difficult time being adopted.”
photo by
Arielle Victoria
She usually begins sponsoring a dog on the
first Friday of each month and the sponsorship continues all that month. She even treats each pup to a day away from the Humane Society as a guest at her business Inside Outside Kitchen and Bath in Gulfport.
“They get a nice day out of the shelter with meets and greets,” she said. “They get to lay around,
eat treats, and just be a dog. I think big dogs are sometimes the hardest to be adopted but always the happiest when they know someone wants them.”
Lex.
He joined Jax, an eight-year-old white pit mix with fawn spots and now the two are best buddies who do everything together.
“They are my boys,” she said, laughing. “And Lex is my foster failure. I just couldn’t take him back. They get along so well. They are both a little older and just chill. I called the Humane Society to let them know I wasn’t bringing him back and they said they already knew he’d found his home before I even told them.”
Jax.
Nicole Matthews.
Once the heartworm treatment is completed and
the dogs have a clean bill of health, they scurry
off to their fur-ever homes. Most of the time, that is, but not in
the case of Lex, a black and brown Brindle Pit mix.
Matthews began fostering him about six months ago, but three months in she knew
Lex was part of her family.
2615 25TH AVE., GULFPORT 228.863.3354 INFO@HSSM.ORG
TUESDAY-FRIDAY: 10 A.M. - 5 P.M. SATURDAY 10 A.M. - 4 P.M.
SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living | www.smliving.net
July 2024 | 41