Ellie’s dad went through a lot of heartbreak in a short amount of time, forcing him to say goodbye to the two women he loved the most.
After losing his wife, he had to surrender his dog to the shelter.
The loss of his wife forced him to have to leave their home and move in with his daughter.
His daughter wouldn’t let him bring his three-year-old English coonhound Ellie with him.
So, he brought Ellie to Canine Haven Rescue.
It was an extremely difficult decision, but one that dad couldn’t avoid.
“We were contacted in June 2021 by our vet office to take Ellie,” Cara Seiler of Canine Haven Rescue Inc. told The Dodo. “Her owner was a client there, and he’d just lost his wife and had to move in with his daughter [who] didn’t allow him to bring Ellie.”
But, as if by fate, Ellie was never adopted. She was placed in a foster home where she remained for about a year and a half.
She had zero interest from adopters, which Seiler says is extremely rare.
“Her previous owner had kept in contact and even sent some toys and a jacket for her,” Seiler said. “Ellie is a very sweet and loving gal, so we have no idea why nobody ever applied to adopt her.”
Ellie’s dad would call and check up on his dog from time to time.
The last time he called, he had great news for both him and Ellie.
“When we told him she was still here you could hear tears in his voice,” Seiler said. “He then said he was moving in with his sister in South Carolina and she loved dogs and he could take Ellie if we would allow him to have her back. So, we arranged [for them] to meet at our vet office.”
Ellie’s reunion with her dad was caught on video and viewed on Facebook more than half a million times.
“There are no words to describe how this made us all feel,” Canine Haven Rescue wrote on their Facebook page.
The video shows Ellie in the vet’s office. She already looked a bit suspicious like she knew something was going on.
Dad called her name when he walked through the door, and Ellie came running.
She was wagging her tail as dad pet her, but when he broke down into tears, she started wagging it wildly and covering him with kisses.
The two couldn’t have been happier to see each other. Everyone in the office was very excited to see these two together again.
“She knew who he was the second he walked near the door,” Seiler said. “She was so excited to see her dad again.”
Many said that Ellie was meant to be reunited with her dad which is why she stayed in the shelter for so long.
Check out Ellie’s emotional reunion with her dad in the video below.
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