Julep is a very sweet, caring and dog but she had to be moved to an animal shelter when her owner died.
She was already 18 years old and was transferred to the local animal shelter at the end of February. Julep had a great bond with her owner, but no one from the family was able to take care of the sweet dog.
The Humane Resource Alliance from Washingon D.C’s mentioned in an email that Julep was definitely one of the oldest, if not the oldest dog that has ever come through in the shelter. “She’s lived a long and happy life.”
Immediately after meeting Julep, the caregivers of the shelter decided to post Julep’s story to Facebook. The post mentioned that the loving dog “doesn’t need much, just a couch to sleep on a human to love” and was also looking for a fresh start.
The heartbroken Wayne Lerch just lost his 11-year old pit bull Jasmine in December, and immediately smiled when he saw the post about Julep in his Facebook feed.
The day after he spotted Julep online, he decided to take a look at the animal shelter himself. He even arrived before the opening hours and wanted to see Julep.
Wayne decided to come on his motorcycle so that we wouldn’t feel any pressure to actually adopt the dog right away. He quickly changed his mind when he saw Julep smiling in the shelter. “I knew right away”, Wayne said in an interview with TODAY.
He immediately went to get his car and Julep left the shelter with his new owner. Alix Tolley from the Humane Rescue Alliance said that there wasn’t a dry eye in the room when Julep first met Wayne.
“We see a lot of happy endings and try not to get too emotional. But the combination of her age and Wayne’s obvious adoration for his new ‘old lady’ left us in tears.”
Wayne and Julep are very happy with each other and the dog is also a big support for Wayne after the death of his pit bull Jasmine. Wayne has also renamed the dog to Tootie after his grandmother. It’s also a reference to the tutti frutti desert because he says little Tootie can’t get enough treats.
Wayne knows that Tootie isn’t exactly a young pup anymore and that they might not have years of time together, but Wayne is determined to make their life together wonderful – however long it may be.
“I couldn’t let her spend one more night in the shelter,” Wayne said. “She’s saving me as much as I’m helping her.”
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