Shelters work as hard as they can to find good homes for all their animals. When an animal finds their forever home, it’s cause for celebration. Typically, the dogs and cats at shelters are also overjoyed when they get to leave and go to their new home. But this wasn’t the case for one sweet hound named Gumby.
Gumby kept running away from his adopted homes and returning to his shelter.
Gumby first arrived at the no-kill shelter Charleston Humane Society in fall 2014. He had been living as a stray on the streets of Charleston, South Carolina, and he was around three to four years old.
Gumby was healthy and friendly, and so the staff at Charleston Humane Society were confident he would be adopted in no time. Sure enough, just a few days after he arrived at the shelter, Gumby left for his new home.
But then, to the staff’s surprise, he was returned to the shelter three days after he was adopted.
This pattern continued for the next two years.
Gumby kept wandering away from his homes, and he kept ending up back at the shelter. In total, Gumby returned to the shelter 11 eleven times. To the staff’s surprise, he didn’t seem upset about this. In fact, it seemed like he wanted to be at the shelter.
Donya Satriale, an animal behaviorist at the humane society, had a theory why Gumby kept coming back. She said:
“He knows he has work to do.”
And as it turned out, Donya was right! Gumby is an empathetic dog, and he was able to comfort all the scared new animals who didn’t understand why they were in the shelter. Gumby helped these dogs relax and settle into their new home.
Then, the staff at the Humane Society realized there was something else amazing about Gumby: he has a unique blood type that’s compatible with both dogs and cat. Because of that, the staff could use his blood to help treat eye infections in kittens.
The staff was happy to have Gumby’s help, but they still hadn’t given up on finding him his perfect forever home. And so, they were thrilled when they realized Gumby had started bonding with one of their staff members, John Martin.
Martin and his fiancée Joanna Ferrell adopted Gumby and took him home. Gumby never tried to run away from their house—in fact, he rarely left his parents’ sides!
In 2017, Gumby and his parents moved to New York City. Gumby quickly settled into life in the big city, and Joanna and John shared an update about his life on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/CharlestonAnimalSociety/posts/10155749670311369
Gumby is a smart dog who knows what he wants. He seemed to realize that while the homes he was in were good, they weren’t quite perfect. Thanks to Gumby’s perseverance, he’s now found the right forever home with parents who love him more than anything!
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