From shelter dog to dapper wedding guest

Katie Pemberton met Cooper at the animal shelter where she worked when she needed a dog to join her for a live TV spot. Cooper got the gig based on his easygoing personality and dashing good looks.

The 3-year-old black-and-white dog did great on the show, “constantly looking to me to know what to do next, taking cues from me, scooting closer to me, initiating affection,” Katie says.

Katie, who now works at Best Friends Animal Society, was at the time already over a decade into working in animal welfare when she met Cooper. She knew from experience that she couldn’t share every single adoptable dog with her friends and family because, as she puts it, “people will tune you out.”

But this was a busy time of year at the shelter. Kennels were full. Cooper had been in the shelter for a few weeks, and sometimes dogs didn’t get much more time than that.

Katie decided to post about Cooper on her personal Facebook page. “This is the best dog,” she wrote. “Please share and help me get this perfect dog adopted.”

Friends started to spread Cooper’s picture and story. And that’s all it took.

Zoe Fetter was home on the couch doing what so many of us do when we have a little down time. “I was just doomscrolling,” she says.

The doom turned to hope when she spotted the black-and-white dog on a friend’s Facebook page and felt her heart go pitter-patter.

Zoe, a nurse, and her firefighter fiancé had just moved to a new house with Abita, the dog Zoe had adopted when she was still single. Zoe had promised Abita that one day she'd have “a sibling and a yard.” This new house had the yard. Looking at Cooper’s photo, Zoe thought she might have found the sibling.

Flowery photos with furry friends

Cooper first came home as a foster pet to give everyone an opportunity to make sure it was a good fit. Cooper made his decision quickly. On his first night, he climbed into bed and pressed himself up against Zoe.

“He could not get close enough to me,” she says. “That’s my boy.”

About two years later, it was time for the wedding. The family had grown by one more dog by then — Rorscach, a Dalmatian who’d been found out in the snow, needed a safe place to land, and then became Cooper’s best friend.

With photos of the dogs all over the house, including on the bedside table, there was no question that this furry trio would be incorporated into the wedding celebration, even if they couldn’t participate in the ceremony itself. There were even signature cocktails bearing their names.

Dog adopted after wedding becomes perfect work-from-home companion

“We had to include them,” says Zoe. “I couldn’t picture the day without them at all.”

All three dogs came to the wedding venue a few hours before the ceremony to take pictures with the humans they love. You can see that Cooper, especially, seems to recognize that it’s an important day for the family.

“In every photo he is grinning so big and so happy to be there with his mom and dad,” Zoe says.

Always championing pets in shelters, Katie says she hopes Cooper’s story will inspire more people to adopt a best friend of their own — or even just share a social media post about a pet in need of a home. It might reach exactly who it needs to, right when they need it most — like it did for Cooper and Zoe.

Katie and Zoe have stayed in touch since Cooper’s adoption. Katie has loved seeing all the updates through the years, especially the wedding photos.

“This is exactly where he belongs, doing exactly what he should be doing,” Katie says. “And of course he’s in a wedding being the most dapper, handsome man who ever lived. This is the life Cooper was always entitled to, and Zoe will forever be my hero for giving it to him.”

Our goal at Best Friends is to support all animal shelters in the U.S. in reaching no-kill. No-kill means saving every dog and cat in a shelter who can be saved, accounting for community safety and good quality of life for pets. 

Shelter staff can’t do it alone. Saving animals in shelters is everyone’s responsibility, and it takes support and participation from the community. No-kill is possible when we work together thoughtfully, honestly, and collaboratively.