Valentines Day Companion Animal Love Stories: The Degroot Family

As Valentine’s Day rolls around, we’re all present to the love we have in our lives. We wanted to honor the loving relationships many of us have to our  companion animals. The relationships we develop as we care for our companions is so special, and we wanted to share some local love stories of Clifton’s pets.

Andria Degroot and Kori

Kori (Koriand'r), formally known as Starfire Princess of Tamaran is a Staffordshire Terrier Pitbull sometimes referred to as a "Red Nose." She is 19 months old and was adopted from BARRK - Bark Animal Rescue and Rehab for K9s.

When Andria Lea and her husband decided to get married they both knew they wanted to bring a dog into their lives. They agreed to wait until they bought their home here in Clifton. One day, on scrolling through Petfinder Andria saw Kori and it was love at first sight. Starfire is Andria’s favorite D.C. comics character and because of that connection she opened the link to her bio. It was a small blurb saying she was a shy girl that warms up. The picture that captivated Andria was of her looking so lovingly at the human taking a snapshot of her. She contacted the rescue network and though she couldn't quite say why, she saw something in those thumbnails of her sweet face and knew she wanted to take her home. Sadly, she was told that the dog was already on hold for someone else. Fate intervened and just four hours later Andria and her husband found out that they would be able to adopt Kori after all.

When asked how having Kori has changed their lives, Andria says that now, a year later, they often wonder what they talked about and did before she came into their lives. “It's not something I could ever measure but [I] marvel at the richness she has brought to us. It's like life has a new layer, the ‘Kori’ layer. All warm days are Kori outings, every grocery trip we get her cucumbers, every pet aisle in every store is perused, vacations and social events; the first question in our minds is ‘Can Kori come?’ She is a life companion in every way.”

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