ST. MARKS, Fla. (WTXL) — After becoming well-known in Wakulla County for stealing shoes from several homes, the mischeivous canine is now officially adoptable and ready to start a new life.
- The St. Marks Shoe Bandit, nicknamed "Belle", is a Black Mouth Cur Mix.
- After surgery to remove a deformed spleen, she is now off to rescue and waiting to be adopted.
- Watch the video below to learn more about her journey and how to adopt her.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The playful stray with a fascination with shoes is now one step closer to finding her fur-ever home as she's now officially adoptable.
I'm neighborhood reporter Serena Davanzo in St. Marks.
After quite a journey to get here, her rescue says she's ready to end the vagabond life for a life of love and cuddles.
"She definitely loves her humans, so she would be a really great family dog. I can tell already," said Angela Schab, Fluff Animal Rescue Manager.
After quite an adventure to become adoptable, the "shoe bandit", nicknamed Belle, has made it into the care of Fluff Animal Rescue and is waiting for her fur-ever home.
"Belle's been great here. She's still settling in. This is a new place for her, so she is still settling in, but she's been great. No shoes stolen to date, so we're happy about that," said Schab. "She's been playing in the play yards, settled really well into her kennel. She's been very friendly with everyone that she's met so far. She's doing great here."
We first told you about her in November when neighbors reached out to me to help them identify her and put an end to her mischief.
Through that story, we met neighbor Debbie Kosec, who had gained the vagabond's trust and started the process of finding her a home.
Kosec reached out to the non-profit Cauzican Care to help with that by getting her adoption ready.
According to Cauzican Care, when Belle went to get spayed, they had found a deformed spleen and had to remove it.
"The president of the rescue, Bonnie Staubitz, authorized the vet to enlarge the incision in order to properly inspect the spleen for any deformity and/or tumor(s). The spleen was deformed and had white omentum attached to it. Ms. Bonnie authorized the removal and a biopsy," volunteer Malinda Bennett shared with me in an email.
After she recovered from her surgery, Belle started the new year by taking a car ride from Wakulla County down to the Tampa area.
Even though she's only been there for a few days, they say she's settling in very nicely. She's showing signs of being dog and cat social, and they have no worries of her adjusting to her new family, though I just had to ask the question everyone wants to know.
What did you think of her sneaker-snatching days? Are they behind her?"
Schab replied with," I think those are behind her. I think she's had her fun. When you're younger and your younger days, you have your fun, and she's ready for her forever domesticated family. You know, I would probably still keep your sneakers just, you know, locked away just in case any bad habits come back. But from what I understand, she's returned the sneakers for the most part. And she's had her fun, and she's ready to land in her forever home."
Schab says that even though Belle is now in the Tampa area, if anyone here in the panhandle wants to adopt her, they will work with you.
If you're interested in this shoe-loving pooch, you can check out her adoption page.
In St Marks Serena Davanzo ABC 27.
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