Alex Casey has a VIP meet and greet with some very famous rescue pooches. 

Sinead O’Connor is pissing in the corner, Steve Martin is coming dangerously close to knocking over a potplant and Meryl Streep is slinking around with her belly to the floor. It could be a rowdy Hollywood afterparty at 2am, but instead we’re at the Henderson animal shelter on a drizzly Tuesday afternoon, meeting a slew of celebrity-named dogs in desperate need of new homes. 

There are currently 46 dogs up for adoption across Auckland Council’s animal shelters, but these celebs have had a particularly long wait. “It’s hard for them, a lot of puppies go quickly but the older dogs tend to stick around,” says Auckland Council’s Silverdale Animal Shelter manager Kelsey Purcell, as bull terrier cross Sinead O’Connor halts her zoomies briefly to emit a silent celebrity fart. “Some of them… well, you can see how they might get overlooked.” 

The ongoing fallout from Covid-19 lockdowns has made things even more challenging for shelters, says Purcell. “A lot of people went back to normal life and realised they didn’t actually have room for a dog,” she says. Auckland Council’s Animal Management Annual Report for 2021 – 2022 found that total of 335 dogs were adopted from Auckland shelters or transferred to rescue organisations, which is 2.1% higher than the previous year. 

With so many new dogs coming through their doors every month, staff at the Manukau Shelter get turns picking a theme for their names. These have included Disney (Edna, Dory, Nemo), fruit (Guava, Peach, Currant) and the aforementioned celebrities (also Kelly Preston, Bette Midler, Shirley MacClaine). Staffy cross Shirley MacClaine was found as a wandering stray puppy with her sister, Sally Field. Sally has since been adopted out, but Shirley is still available.

“People often just like the look of dogs,” says Purcell. “Anything small and cute will go out much quicker.” It’s not unusual for larger “bully” breeds to stay in the shelter for several months – the longest reigning was a staffy cross who was in council care for over 10 months before finally getting adopted. “They can be harder work for first-time dog owners, and as soon as you put in any requirements around the home it gets harder and harder to adopt them out.” 

We meet a shy girl called Meryl Streep, a whippet cross with an extraordinary origin story. Her mum was found heavily pregnant in the backseat of a car that had been involved in a hit and run in South Auckland. The driver had fled the scene, so she was surrendered to the Manukau shelter where she would soon give birth to a litter of nine, including Meryl. Since then all of Meryl’s brothers and sisters, and even her own mum, have found new homes. 

Meryl nervously sniffs around the room with her belly close to the floor. After a couple of treats and pats, she starts nuzzling into our legs with her ears perked up like Yoda, before sitting nicely to have her picture taken. It is extremely difficult to understand why she’s been overlooked for so many months. “Right now we have a surplus of rescue dogs and less people in a position to take them on, and yet people are still breeding out there,” says Purcell. “It’s crazy.” 

There is always an increased interest in dog adoption around Christmas, but Purcell says it is more related to the seasons than to Santa. “I think summer helps a lot – nobody wants to adopt a dog in the middle of winter.” For those looking to bring any dog home, she says it is essential you ask some hard questions – “Can you commit to a dog for the next 15 years? Can you afford it if it needs medication, insurance or surgery? Can you promise it the time it needs?” 

The Christmas period also brings with it more surrenders, says Purcell. “People realise they can’t afford their dog on top of everything else, or they leave their dogs alone and go away on holiday and the dog gets out,” she says. Her one hope is that those who are in the market for a dog will consider looking at a rescue instead. “It’s not the dogs’ fault that they are here,” she says. “Give them a second chance, they are just as deserving as any other dog.”