Behind every stray animal is a story.
Why was it abandoned? Who would do such a thing? These are usually the questions that come up when someone sees a sweet animal whose lonely situation goes unexplained.
This is the typical question most shelters are left asking themselves when they house new animals. It’s hard enough surviving on the streets, but being alone at the same time is awfully terrifying.
Meet Roscoe
One pooch managed to lift our hearts higher than the rest. A doggo by the name of Roscoe was taken under the care of Washington County-Johnson City Animal Shelter. The crew at the shelter stayed with Roscoe for over six months until he finally started to come around into his own.
A very sad pup
Initially, Roscoe was not like this at all. He was never open to smiling, wagging his tail, or any other type of social interaction. Not even the dog treats proved to be effective! What on earth could be ailing Roscoe so much?
“The entire time he was here he was very timid, very reserved … it was like he didn’t have a personality,” Tammy Davis, the shelter’s director, said. “He wasn’t acting like a dog.”
The animal shelter started to worry
It was very concerning for the crew back at the shelter, but they knew they had to deal with it in some form or fashion.
They understood that Roscoe was a street dog that merrily strutted its way around to different houses until a kind neighbor couldn’t refuse to feed it. It got to the point where someone had to call animal rescue as a result of Roscoe aimlessly walking around in public with nowhere to go.
“He didn’t want to be comforted by us, he didn’t want to be touched — it was like he was kind of just existing,” Davis said. “There was no emotion or excitement no matter what we did.”
Roscoe didn’t want to interact with others
The staff tried everything in their power to interact with Roscoe and build trust. Time after time their efforts would fall flat without resolve.
All they wanted to accomplish was seeing a happy pup who would come to grips with being surrounded by a loving family.
A Facebook post changed everything
When all hope seemed to dwindle, one last call to action finally broke the camel’s straw. A Facebook post somehow managed to turn the tide around for the pup.
“We all cared about him and we were just trying to work with him and make him more comfortable,” said Davis. “Because of COVID, we use our social media more than we used to and we thought, ‘What the heck? Even though he’s not the most outgoing dog, and it may be hard to find him somewhere, we’re going to post him and we’re just going to be honest.’”
A shocking response to the animal shelters post
After the post was submitted, a response almost immediately came through that shook the shelter’s crew in disbelief.
As soon as the post went live, a message appeared on the shelter’s Facebook: “I think that’s my dog and he’s been missing for three years.”
Skeptical at first
At first, the animal shelter crew wanted to verify that this was indeed Roscoe’s owner. Davis noticed the man had pictures with a dog that had an identical coat to Roscoe’s, and so decided to set up a meetup time for the man and the pup to have a formal meet and greet.
“The rest of us backed away and let the gentleman in there with Roscoe and it was just amazing,” Davis said. “It was like something clicked and he was like, ‘This is my person, my daddy.’”
Recognizing his dad
All it took was a few moments for Roscoe to realize that was his daddy. The two were like two peas in a pod after reuniting once more. The crew let out a sigh of relief and finally began to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
“In the six months the dog was here I’d never seen him wag his tail, never seen the dog jump up, and we were never able to love on him,” Davis said. “So it was obvious that this was his owner, it just took him a few minutes to realize who it was, and then he knew instantly.”
Everyone was finally relieved to see Roscoe reunited with his one true companion.
The animal shelter basked in the satisfaction of knowing another lost pup found its way back home. This is what makes the job worth it each and every single day. It may not always seem like things are looking up, but anything can change at a moment’s notice.
Roscoe got a miracle and the shelter was thrilled to have been able to reunite the sad, heartbroken pup back with his owner again. Watch the video below to see the touching reunion for yourself.
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