Eleventh Hour Rescue finds new home in mall on Black Friday
ROCKAWAY TWP. — Customers at Rockaway Townsquare filled the mall on Black Friday, but few stores were more popular than the new Annie's Pooch Pops store, home to Eleventh Hour Rescue for the next month.
Formerly home to Pet Pourri, located on the lower level of the mall next to Sears, the space is being used through December by Annie's Pooch Pops, a Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania-based dog treat company.
"I was asked if I wanted to take over the store for the holidays, and I said 'only if Eleventh Hour can come in here,'" Pooch Pops manager Bryan Hartig said. "There will always be dogs here. We want to rescue dogs and save lives."
Hartig knew Eleventh Hour Rescue from past events and heard about their recent trouble finding a place to facilitate adoptions.
The animal rescue was forced out of the Mount Olive PetSmart in September. The group planned to open a kennel in Randolph at an existing home where they care for animals — until Hartig reached out.
Linda Schiller, Eleventh Hour Rescue volunteer president and founder, said they happily moved into the mall instead, where they expect to see significantly more traffic.
"We had some adversity this year and were hoping for a miracle," Schiller said. "And we got one, courtesy of Pooch Pops."
Hartig and Schiller both say they hope their December is successful enough to make the temporary home in the mall a permanent one.
"The idea that I get to save lives this holiday season, amazing rescue dogs that will find a home, is the best gift ever," Schiller said. "They say Disney World is the happiest place on earth, but right now this place is the happiest."
About 20 dogs arrived looking for a home by 9 a.m., but the store was crowded more than an hour in advance, awaiting their arrival .
The Staszak family — Sheila, Jim, and daughter Ashley — of Flanders said they were thrilled to hear Eleventh Hour Rescue found a new home and stopped by Friday morning to see the new store and kennel.
"This is so much better after what they dealt with (at) PetSmart," Sheila Staszak said. "I think they'll have much more traffic here."
The Staszak family previouslyhad adopted two dogs from Eleventh Hour Rescue, including a shepherd-labrador mix named Dixie a few months ago.
"We were going to wait until later," Jim Staszak said, "But then we heard what happened with PetSmart and decided to do it sooner."
Schiller said the community response since leaving PetSmart has been incredible, and Eleventh Hour has been able to find homes for hundreds of dogs since the contract ended in late September.
She said they typically would have 40 adoptions on a good week, and since they left PetSmart, they have had several weeks where they've found homes for more than 100 dogs.
"People walk into this store and they see it's a happy place," Hartig said. "And they see the Eleventh Hour Rescue sign, and they know the dogs are taken care of ... they didn't come from a puppy mill."
Hartig said all Pooch Pops treats and products are American-made. One of his most popular items is the "Happy Dog Meal," a kid's meal-style box of treats fashioned to look like a hamburger and fries.
The store had free treats for humans to celebrate the grand opening Friday, and for Black Friday, Eleventh Hour Rescue was offering 10 percent off adoption fees all weekend and an additional $25 off the adoption of any black dog.
Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@GannettNJ.com