Hotel for Homeless Dogs is pawsitively perfect

CUMBERLAND – At the Hotel for Homeless Dogs, pooches like the Pickle Boys listen to classical music, lounge in a living room and go on daylong playdates with volunteers.

When dogs arrive here tired, scared and lonely, Susan Joseph wants them to know that their days living under a porch or tied to a tree are behind them and their life of comparative luxury has begun.

"When a dog arrives here, I want him to know it's over," she said, referring to their often miserable pasts.

The shelter, which opened in 2020, feels like home. The walls, even the kennels, are painted in rich shades of purple and blue. Pictures of happy dogs cover the walls. There is a playroom with a turf floor and a huge tub of balls.

The "hotel" smells like potpourri. The din of a typical shelter is missing here.

As you walk through the kennels, Joseph knows every dog. Most of them are friendly, pushing their noses against a few wiggling fingers. A couple are scared and move to their outdoor run.

Joseph knows all of their stories.

Will and Grace are a bonded pair; first one dog was dumped at a Georgia shelter, then the other. They were taken to the Hotel, where Joseph hopes these shepherd mixes will be adopted.

Cairo and Giza, two white pit bull mixes, were found living under a shed. They have a twin bed because they've been here the longest, almost a year.

"We want them to feel like its their home," Joseph said.

Joseph stumbled into the rescue world. After her lab was killed by a car in 2006, she said she had this hole in her heart that needed filling. She founded a foster-based rescue, the New England Humane Society, a few years later.

But it wasn't enough. So many dogs were in need. In 2019, she began renovating the former Cumberland animal control shelter, located in the local industrial park.

First, she began visiting other shelters, where she learned what she didn't want.

"When I'd go to these other shelters, I'd leave and feel bad," Joseph said.

The hotel is her vision of what home would feel like to a dog that has known little, if any, comfort.

"We run this place on two full-time staff," she said – and 250 volunteers.

But the Hotel is cramped. Joseph wants to build a bigger shelter, with a cat sanctuary, larger runs and twin beds for every dog. She doesn't have a feasibility study or a board of directors. She just has a dream.

For donations, contact helpthehotel.com.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Hotel for Homeless Dogs offers all the comforts of home they never had