Ellie the pit bull was only one year old when she was taken to a kill shelter by her old owners, who had decided that she was no longer the ‘cute puppy’ that they had first adopted.
The sweet dog was sentenced to be euthanized later that same day, but luckily, Ellie’s guardian angels seemed to be looking down on her on that day.
Jon Patel and his wife Kayla were still of two minds about getting a dog, but they decided to visit a local shelter in their hometown of Jackson, Tennessee in early May, just to check out their options.
“There was a bunch of pit bulls and cats there, and the dogs were barking and jumping up on the cages,” Jon Patel told The Dodo.
But one dog seemed totally different from the rest. While the others barked and raced around, Ellie sat calmly in her kennel, looking at Jon and Kayla with big, brown eyes.
“She was just sitting there very calmly while the other dogs were barking their heads off,” Jon said. “So I went over to her cage, and she stuck her little paw out, and when I reached my hand down, she stuck her little paw out through the cage, and I grabbed it.”
When Jon and Kayla learned the reason why Ellie had been surrendered, they were in shock. And then when they discovered that she was due to be euthanized that same day, it lit a fire in their bellies.
They knew immediately that they had to adopt this sweet little pit bull before it was too late.
Jon convinced the shelter to take care of Ellie until the following Monday, which was the earliest day that they could pick her up. The shelter agreed, but they made it clear that Jon would have to stick to his promise.
“They said that if we didn’t come Monday, they would have to put her down,” Jon said. “She’s only a year old, and if they put her down, it would have been such a waste of life.”
The Patels kept their word, and on Monday Jon collected the pit bull and took her to the family’s apartment, where she would be able to start her new life.
It was as if Ellie knew that she had been saved from being euthanized, and she simply couldn’t believe her luck.
“As soon as I brought her into the door, she was just running all over the apartment, jumping on the bed, jumping on the couch,” Jon said. “To this day, I don’t understand why anyone would give her up because she’s so sweet and loving. She’s never met a person or a tennis ball that she doesn’t love immediately,” Kayla added.
Ellie is now happily settling into life with her new family. Jon and Kayla literally saved her life, and without them, there would have been a very different ending to her story.
The sweet dog is so full of love, and you can tell she’s truly appreciative of every day she gets to spend with her new mom and dad.
“She won’t let you out of her sight — ever,” Kayla said. “Even if you creep out of the room … she’s coming after you because she wants to keep her eye on you. I think she just loves us and she wants to be near us all the time.”
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