It didn’t take long for the Morgan County Animal shelter to find homes for its five Christmas puppies.

When the shelter opened at 10 a.m. on Thursday there were over a dozen people waiting in line to adopt Sneezy—the Shiu Tzus pup that was pictured on the front page of the Hartselle Enquirer on Dec. 5—and her four litter mates. Within two hours, each one had been adopted and was on their way to new homes, just in time for Christmas.

Sneezy was the first to go. She was adopted by Donna Cunningham of Decatur and immediately given the name “Gracie.”

“She’s my baby now,” said Cunningham. “I’ve already bought her a cute pink sweater and I’m going to Pet Smart today and buy a carrying pouch. Wamart, here we come!”

Cunningham said she fell in love with Sneezy the moment she saw her picture in the paper and went to the shelter the same day to see the puppies.

“Our home has been without a dog since we lost our 18-year-old Shih Tzus six monmth ago,” explained Cunningham. “She’s the perfect fit for our six-year-old daughter, Lydia Annah. a cat and a fish.”

Shelter director Claudia Ray said she and her staff probably answered 300 phone calls from people inquiring about the puppies after the story about their need for homes was published.

“Because of the attention created by the story, we were able to adopt some of the larger dogs we had sheltered and we also had some calls about the mother of the puppies,” Ray stated.