Real Pet Friendly – Angela Mihal, South Florida Realtor finds homes for you and your animals

In 2003, fresh out of college, my boyfriend Chris and I moved from a small town in Indiana to Phoenix, Ariz. Soon after, he got down on one knee and asked me the most important question of my life. Could we get a dog?

I answered a blissful, breathless yes.

We scoped out the local animal shelter, the most depressing place I’ve ever been. There we found our oldest, Calvin the Chihuahua. A few months later, I really felt strongly that Calvin needed a brother or sister. So we happily welcomed Silvio, the Italian greyhound, into our family. (We would find later that Silvio has some “middle child” issues, to say the least.)

In 2005, Chris and I were hired as page designers at the Sun-Sentinel. A couple months into our new Florida life, I showed a coworker the Web site Petfinder.com. It’s an animal adoption site full of rescued or abandoned animals (a very dangerous place for animal lovers). I was explaining the search options and how you can find specific breeds. I typed in schnauzer. This is where Norman and Chewy enter the picture.

We were instantly in love, though nervous about adding two more dogs to our family. We gave them a test-drive by becoming their foster parents. A week later, they were part of our home.

Growing up, I lived with three brothers, two cats and one beloved dog. Now I live with four dogs and one husband.

So as you can imagine it takes a lot of skill to find the right home for my big family. I’ve become quite an expert at what us pet lovers need in a home. I am now a Realtor looking to help others who want to live in a pet-friendly environment and to share all of my pet knowledge/resources. I hope this site is valuable to others who share my love for animals. I welcome anyone to send me helpful sites to add to my links and would love for you to share your stories, problems and photos with me.