New retirement home opens for old homeless dogs

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP/CNN) — A new Missouri retirement home of sorts gives homeless senior dogs that don’t get adopted from shelters a place to romp and roam.

Shep’s Place Senior Dog Sanctuary opened about two weeks ago in the Kansas City suburb of Independence. Founder Russell Clothier told WDAF-TV that he came up with the idea after he started volunteering at shelters and saw elderly dogs never finding a new home. He decided the dogs need to be spending their “golden days in retirement.”

The sanctuary is named after a 10-year-old beagle-basset hound mix that Clothier adopted. It has kennels for around 20 dogs to be housed together and a large yard. Clothier said the sanctuary takes only dogs that “fall through the cracks” and can’t find a home through a shelter.