Mena and her partner grow their family! 🐶🐶

Meet Mena and her fiance. Like many other young couples, they’d dreamed of growing their family by adopting a pet as soon as they purchased their own home. This dream became a reality at the start of this year!

Mena and her partner both work mostly from home and love being active and spending time outdoors. Mena had grown up with dogs and couldn’t picture a better way to grow their family than adopting a rescue doggo. 

‘’We were looking for another member of our family, a dog to bring us joy and happiness and that we could love, protect and give a second chance.’’

The online search begins!

Because many shelters and rescue groups were not taking walk-ins due to Covid, they jumped online and found PetRescue. 

‘’The experience of using PetRescue was very easy and straightforward. The hardest part was holding myself back from enquiring about every pet we came across! All of the rescue groups we spoke to were always super helpful and very responsive.’’ - Mena.

Meeting Jean-Luc

Mena had initially enquired about Jean-Luc’s brother, and the same day, they received a call from Furry Friends Forever Rescue letting them know that he had found a home, but little Jean-Luc was available for adoption! They spoke to his foster carers, who were very helpful, answering all of the couple’s questions and sending lots of adorable photos and videos. They quickly organised a meet and greet, and the rest is history.

‘’It was honestly love at first sight, we saw him and we couldn't keep our eyes, hands and heart from him. We knew he was the pup for us, and we were able to bring him home that same day.’’

Mena and her partner were enjoying every single second of having Jean-Luc in their lives. He popped into their home office with his ball on a few different occasions, asking to play while they were busy with Zoom meetings. This made them think of adopting a second pet - a companion for Jean-Luc to play with while they were busy working. They knew he would benefit from a furry friend to spend time with and help his socialisation from a young age.

Growing their family

The couple hopped back onto PetRescue, and it wasn’t long before they saw Zuri’s adorable little face! They quickly made an appointment with Animal Welfare League NSW (Kemps Creek Shelter) to come and meet her (with Jean-Luc in tow of course!) The staff at AWL were really helpful and went above and beyond to ensure that Jean-Luc and Zuri were introduced correctly in a neutral environment. Zuri was such a beautiful, loving girl, and the couple fell in love with her straight away. They were over the moon that she and Jean-Luc got along straight away and that she was able to come home with them that day!

The pair are now the best of friends and do everything together:

‘’They each have their own day beds in our living room, but they prefer to lay in one of them together. They love to chase each other in the backyard and then take a drink of water from the same bowl. They share all of their toys and they are both also very patient with each other when one has more energy than the other. During the day when they want to nap, they walk into our home office where we have a small elevated bed, and although it's a bit small to fit both of them, they both lay on it taking in the sunshine.’’

Adopting big doggos

Mena had grown up with small dogs and had initially imagined herself with a small dog that she could pick up and cuddle. She now loves having big dogs who adore cuddles and says that there are so many misconceptions about Staffies in particular that are very untrue;

‘’The reality now is I have the complete opposite with Jean-Luc and Zuri; they are both going to be large, heavy dogs with lots of energy. They are both very loving and gentle, so I can still cuddle them if I bend to their level.

In my experience, big dogs are just gentle giants. They give you bigger kisses and cuddles than the smaller ones! I'd been hesitant to get a Staffy... but I've found them to be so gentle and full of love, and I don't think I will ever return; they are the best pets.’’

Two pets = twice the love

Mena says about adopting a second pet:

‘’What's better than having one pet? Having two! Adopting a second pet was the best decision. Jean-Luc and Zuri have become best friends and are inseparable. We rarely have to leave them at home alone, but when we do we are at ease knowing they are keeping each other company rather than one of them being lonely and anxious. Taking care of two pets isn't much different from taking care of one, but the joy you get is more than two-fold!’’

Mena’s partner had never had any pets before, and at first, he didn’t know what to expect - but he’s now the favourite human! Having the doggos has made the couple a lot more active, taking them for a walk every day and spending plenty of time playing with them (the distraction everyone needs from their work emails!). 

The pup’s characters have changed since the couple brought them home. They’re both becoming more obedient and have a better understanding of what they’re allowed to do and where (while still being cheekier than ever!). They’ve become more affectionate as they’ve gotten older and are better at coping when they’re left at home, trusting that their humans will come back for them.

‘’I love my pets as if they were my children. They radiate love and happiness and have brought so much positivity into my home. They have definitely made our lives a lot better!’’

Want to check out more of Jean-Luc and Zuri’s adventures? Follow them on Instagram.

Jean-Luc & Zuri are two of the lucky ones. At any given time, there are pets who find themselves homeless. Together though, we can change that. 

No matter where a pet might find themselves homeless in Australia, your gift gives them a place on PetRescue, creating the connection for a new family to find them.

You can help connect a homeless pet with someone to love them.