Senior Dog Sent to Shelter After Owner's Death Warms Hearts with Photo of 'Tucking Himself In'
Hearts broke across the world after a Humane Society employee shared a photo a homeless senior dog in Michigan consoling himself after his owner passed away.
It didn’t take very long for a loving family to step up and adopt him, and now the dog’s new mom hopes that his story inspires others to adopt senior dogs.
On July 12, 2019, Jan Nageldinger from the Humane Society of Branch County in Quincy, Michigan, walked to the back of the facility to check on the dogs before locking up and noticed Scooter in his kennel.
Scooter, a senior Chihuahua mix, was surrendered after his owner passed away, but it was his unusual bedtime routine that broke her heart. She hoped that by taking a picture of Scooter, it would inspire someone to welcome him into their home.
“This is Scooter,” she wrote on Facebook. “He tucks himself in at night. I pray someone adopts this boy soon…”
The photo quickly went viral, gaining over 3,500 shares. Inquiries soon began flooding in to the Humane Society.
Nageldinger told Liftable, a section of The Western Journal, that people as far away as Italy expressed interest in adopting Scooter.
One woman’s heart particularly broke for Scooter and she wanted to bring him home.
Jessica Howard had rescued from the Humane Society of Branch County before, but Scooter’s story tugged at her heartstrings.
“It really brought me to tears as I looked at Jan’s post of Scooter and just really hit home to me, that that picture represented all the millions of animals awaiting homes in shelters everywhere,” she told Liftable.
“That Scooter laying there on that cot was once someone’s beloved pet who had since passed away, he had a story and his life mattered.”
She contacted Jan and made the almost three hour drive to meet Scooter and bring him home to his two Chihuahua siblings, Jax and Hank.
“Senior dogs are simply amazing. They remind me of our human elders,” Howard said. “They have lived a long life and come with wonderful stories to tell. They also deserve to be treated with respect, compassion, love and decency.”
Howard also created a Facebook page and an Instagram profile to keep everyone who was interested in Scooter’s story updated.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz8aIJzh4Ta/
Howard hopes that Scooter’s story will ultimately inspire people to consider adopting senior dogs.
“It seems sometimes the seniors are forgot about or looked over for younger pets. Which really saddens me,” she said. “Because I truly think a senior dog has so much more to give that people overlook.”
“I feel if Scooter’s story can help inspire someone to adopt or to donate to the Humane Society of Branch County or their local shelter, then Scooter’s life has mattered,” Howard continued.
“And it shows what one little senior dog can do. He moved an entire world with just a single post! That is beyond amazing.”
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