Animal shelters across the U.S. receive cats and dogs every day.
Many are left by pet owners who can no longer care for the animals. These former owners typically have good intentions and believe that somebody will adopt their pets soon.
Unfortunately, many people don’t realize some of these animals end up euthanized.
While there are no-kill shelters, some shelters euthanize animals after a few days, some as soon as four days after a shelter receives them.
This is one reason why it’s important that animals from shelters get adopted and find new homes as soon as possible.
Fortunately, stray pit bull Waffle Sizzli is one of the lucky shelter dogs.
She was picked up and sheltered by Richmond Animal Care and Control (RACC) in November 2022.
In January 2023, she was still at the shelter waiting to be adopted. By this time, she was the shelter’s longest resident.
Aside from getting love and cuddles from the RACC staff, Waffle discovered something else she loved at the shelter – plush toys, also called stuffies.
Waffle discovered plush toys when she was first brought into the office of RACC director Christie Peters. Here, she found some plush toys waiting for her.
“She loved them. She walked down the hallway to the other office and took stuffies from there. She brought them back to my room so she could have more,” Peters told The Dodo.
Waffle brought her prized plush toys with her everywhere. The toys surrounded Waffle when she lay down in her bed. Whenever she left her bed, she brought at least one toy.
She even took her toys outside when she used the bathroom and brought them back inside when she finished.
Her favorite plush toy was a red bone.
“The runner-up was the frog, but his legs dangle, and sometimes she’d trip on them. The third in lineup was the bird – she carried that one around a bunch,” Peters also said.
Waffle didn’t interact much with the other dogs at the shelter, but she proudly showed them her toys every time she passed by other cages.
While she showed off her toys, she was not interested in playing tug-of-war with her precious stuffies.
“She would bring them to us, but she didn’t want us to take them. She just wanted us to admire her with her stuffies, which we did. It was really the Waffle Sizzli show every day, and we were just the participants,” Peters shared.
Finally, Waffle Sizzli was adopted after three months at the shelter.
Her new owner saw a video of her with her stuffies on RACC’s videos and fell in love with her.
When she left, Waffle’s RACC friends made sure she went to her new home with special gifts.
“We sent her home with everything she loved. Now, I get pictures of her with her stuffies in her new house,” Peters said.
While the RACC staff miss her, they are glad that she is finally with her forever home.
We’re so happy that Waffle Sizzli now has a loving home with a caring new owner and of course, surrounded by her favorite toys.
Watch the video of Waffle Sizzli playing with her treasured stuffies below!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
