Each dog in the shelter has their own story. Some might be rescued from the streets as strays, and some of them might have belonged to a loving and caring household once.
Luckily there are animal shelters who extend their hands to pets in need whether they are lost, abandoned, or even surrendered by their owners. These animals are given food, shelter, and medicine, treating them with the utmost care until someone claims them for adoption.
This poor dog was forced to be in an animal shelter after losing his home.
Smokey is one of the unfortunate dogs who was surrendered to a shelter due to unprecedented reasons. Smokey’s owners lost their home, and they had no choice but to surrender this five-year-old dog on Valentine’s Day in 2017 to the Franklin County Dog Shelter & Adoption Center located in Ohio.
The owners included his favorite elephant stuffed toy to go with him, along with a note that said, “so that he can take comfort in it.”
With the abrupt change in this poor dog’s life and his environment, he spent weeks behind his kennel stressed out and extremely depressed. The only thing that made his day a little lighter was playing with his elephant doll.
He spent most of his days playing with stuffed toys and lying on his bed placed at the corner of the room with his elephant beside him.
The shelter noticed that Smokey and his favorite elephant toy were inseparable and that the dog wouldn’t go anywhere without it. So they thought of putting them together on the adoption sign on the dog’s kennel.
Weeks passed and no one batted an eye at this poor dog and his toy, while the other pets in the shelter finally found their new homes. The shelter also closed his public adoption as they noticed the dog getting aggressive due to anxiety.
With no one taking interest in him, the shelter had no choice but to schedule Smokey to be euthanized at the end of March 2017 or hope for a rescue group to take him out there.
Finally, two people kindly volunteered to search for a new home for Smokey and his elephant. Two volunteers from I Have A Dream Rescue Organization, a non-profit organization based in Columbus, Ohio visited their shelter. They instantly fell in love as they saw Smokey cuddling with his doll.
They volunteered to take Smokey and committed to finding him a new home. One of the volunteers told The Dodo,
“He will be offered back to his family first. If that is not an option, we will provide Smokey with as much time as he and his elephant need.”
The dog might have sensed that those two people were trying to help him, so he faced them with bliss and appreciation.
Smokey and his elephant eventually found a new loving home with the help of the rescue organization volunteers.
As Smokey was now out of the Ohio animal shelter, the shelter began spreading photos of Smokey and his toy elephant on the internet, hoping people would inquire about adopting their 95 other dogs. They were hoping that Smokey’s story would inspire people to start adopting dogs from shelters.
Kudos to the people for giving this dog a new home!
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