Holly, a stout brindle American pit bull terrier mix, loves people big and small.
Each day, volunteers or potential adopters visit the 10-year-old dog. She is brought food or water or taken on a walk.
When people are near, her powdered-sugar muzzle lolls open to reveal a wide pink tongue, and her thick tail whips to and fro like a runaway rudder.
She has waited the last four years for her forever family.
But everyone who comes always leaves.
Holly is one of 29 dogs and 51 cats under the care of Paws and Prayers, a foster-based animal rescue in Cuyahoga Falls.
The nonprofit was founded by Marty Habas and had its 25th anniversary April 28. Since its creation, volunteers and fosters have found permanent homes for over 21,000 pets.
Paws and Prayers created its forever foster program in 2023 to help older animals like Holly. The program’s forever foster families provide the dog or cat a loving home for the remainder of its life, while the rescue retains financial responsibility over the pet.
That includes food, litter, preventative medications, medical care and any other needs they may have.
“We’ve found that older dogs need a little bit more medical needs, for lack of a better word, so we have taken that on financially and we’re hoping that somebody would just give them a loving home so that they can live out the remainder of their life not in a shelter,” said Kyrsten Liming, a mentor to dog fosters at Paws and Prayers.
Holly certainly isn’t looking for a wallet to drain or a credit card to rack up. She just wants a loving spot to land with no other pets and a fenced-in yard.
Forever fostering cats
Michelle Cetrone worked at Paws and Prayers for eight months before turning her home into a cat retirement community in October 2025.
A frightened light orange tabby cat named Shamie came into Paws and Prayers care when her owner moved into an assisted-living facility.
The 11-year-old cat was so stressed she developed a severe upper respiratory infection and refused to move or eat. It was clear that she needed a home as soon as possible.
Then came Irving, a gray-and-white tuxedo cat of an unknown, but certainly elderly, age. Found in a trash can but still good natured, Cetrone fell in love with him right away.
She became a forever foster home to Shamie Oct. 10 and Irving Oct. 25. While she would have loved to adopt them, the potential cost of their medical needs made the program a perfect fit.
“It makes it easier for people who want a pet, or an older pet, who can’t necessarily afford them,” said Cetrone. “Sometimes older ones are a little scary to adopt because of the unknown with their medical, the future of them, you know, the potential cost if something serious goes wrong.”
That’s exactly what happened two months after she took home Irving, who was diagnosed with Stage 2 kidney failure. Paws and Prayers pays for his medical needs and special prescription cat food.
“The elderly ones are looked past when people come through,” said Cetrone. “Everyone wants a younger animal, a kitten or a smaller puppy dog and I feel like (the program) can get the elderly ones out more.”
Forever fostering dogs
There are currently four dogs in permanent homes thanks to the forever foster program. Gus, a 9-year-old chocolate labrador retriever and hound mix, will bump up that total to five on May 15.
Most are puppies that were adopted out of Paws and Prayers and returned years later. That was the case for Sophie, a 12-year-old boxer mix whose owners surrendered her so that they could travel.
Her forever foster parent, Jeannette Michel, took in Sophie on Feb. 16, just three days after her previous dog, a Saint Bernard named Maddie, was put down due to cancer.
Michel had spent $5,000 in vet bills over the last two years caring for her previous dogs, so having that responsibility removed from the equation was essential. Caring for an older pup instead of a puppy was a priority for her as well.
“I think when you’re old, you should not get puppies because you’re not going to make it,” she said. “You’re not going to make it to get that dog grown…. I just think to set a dog up to not be there for its life is wrong. There are so many dogs that need somebody, like maybe their person died and they just need some old person to take care of them.”
Today, Michel and Sophie spend their days in quiet companionship. Well… until the tan-and-white dog decides to eviscerate one of her many squeaky toys.
More on the forever foster program
Those forever fostering out of state are provided the same support as those in the Akron area.
Coco, a labrador retriever and American pit bull terrier mix fostered in Pennsylvania, has her food and flea, tick and heartworm prevention shipped to her. Bills from her local vet are reimbursed or paid directly to the vet office.
For those who like to travel, Paws and Prayers also can provide dog sitting or kenneling services.
To learn more about Paws and Prayers, visit the organization’s website. Don’t forget to check out the adoptable dogs and adoptable cats.
“Older dogs specifically, they are a lot of fun, and they do have a lot of life left in them,” said Liming. “They make really great companions.”
Got a story recommendation? Contact Beacon Journal reporter Tawney Beans at tbeans@usatoday.com and on Twitter @TawneyBeans. And follow her adventures on TikTok @akronbeaconjournal.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Paws and Prayers offers ‘forever fosters’ to help aging animals
Reporting by Tawney Beans, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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