A Homeless Dog Seeking Comfort From A Stuffed Animal Will Get Your Attention
Would looking out your window to see a homeless dog seeking comfort from a stuffed animal not melt your heart? It certainly would mine. In this time where both dogs and people are finding themselves without a home, it would be easy to feel hopeless, but there is still hope! This story starts out as a heart-breaker but it ends up with an unsung hero being recognized!
Hope For The Hopeless Comes In Many Forms
Hope comes in many forms. You will find hope coming from government programs, local organizations within many communities, volunteers and everyday animal lovers. And rarely, from an unsung hero like Calvin who you will read about below.
One example of a special program dedicated to protecting animals in danger for the past few years is “Forgotten Dogs.” They provide shelter food and veterinary care while attempting to find them with a new home. It is the volunteers at this, and other such programs, who make the system work
Last year, a heart-breaking photo spread like wildfire across the internet. This photo, of a dog seeking comfort from a stuffed animal, increased public awareness of the problems such organizations face every day.
It Started As A Normal Day For The Volunteers, But Then They Saw A Dog Seeking Comfort From A Stuffed Animal
The animal welfare volunteer was out on the road like any one of a hundred days before. Seeing a homeless dog in the street was nothing unusual. She had seen several hundreds of homeless dogs wandering the streets in the past, but this one was special.
Lying on a hard asphalt surface near the street, a small dog clutched a ragged stuffed animal as if his life depended upon it. The sight of this homeless dog seeking comfort from a stuffed animal touched the heart of this volunteer dramatically.
It Took More Than A Tender Heart to Make A Difference
Although her heart was touched and she wanted to rescue this homeless pup, she was unable to do so. Sometimes, the desire to help is just not enough. Because the rescue vehicle was full of other homeless dogs, they were forced to leave the dog behind. With saddened hearts, they left the dog with his stuffed animal to return as soon as possible to rescue him from the street.
They Found an Unsung Hero in the Dog’s Place
When the rescue team returned to where they had left the sad little pup, he was no longer there. He had disappeared. But, in his place, they found Calvin, an 89-year-old gentleman who lived close by.
Calvin explained that he did his best to take care of the dog but that, occasionally he ran away. He also told them that he did the same for as many dogs as he could at any given time.
Amazingly, Calvin runs a small shelter for animals on an honorary basis. Due to the small space available, some dogs ran away. As you can imagine, limited resources prevented him from doing all he wanted to do for the dogs. Love is not always enough.
The Forgotten Dogs staff was impressed with all that Calvin was doing on his own. They volunteered to help Calvin with vet costs and other necessary items. Calvin was touched by their generosity and happy to have much-needed help to rescue more dogs.
He gratefully accepted their generous offer. Their financial assistance will help him provide for many more animals than he could take care of on his own.
About 3.5 Million Homeless Dogs in the USA
This is a huge number but is down significantly from what it was several years ago according to several sources. This is a hard number to validate but, whatever it is, it is too many! The resources for providing care for dogs rescued from the streets are never enough to meet the need in any community. Both volunteers and financial help are needed.
A Photo Is Worth More Than A Thousand Words
While the volunteer was photographing this heart-rending photo, other volunteers and employees were busy rescuing more dogs from the street. She was reminded of how many dogs were homeless in her city and many others across the country.
It broke her heart to think of how many dogs were not being rescued due to a lack of resources. She decided to share the photo with others, hoping they would be as touched by it as she had been.
Thankfully, the rescuer took and shared a photo of the terrified dog seeking comfort from a stuffed animal. She had no way of knowing the effect that the photo would have. There was no way she could have imagined that it would be seen and shared by so many dog lovers on various social media.
Although there are employees and volunteers working night and day to rescue homeless animals, this is not enough all by itself. In order to provide safe and loving homes for these rescued dogs, more is needed.
If you are interested in learning more about how to help, check out :
https://happymutt.org/shelter-dog-adoption/
https://happymutt.org/man-cried-out-of-joy-after-knowing-he-can-keep-his-foster-dog/
As heartbreaking as the image of the dog seeking comfort from a stuffed animal might be, unless it is shared with other dog lovers, it does no good. Be an unsung hero yourself and share this story widely to encourage all dog lovers to do their part to rescue homeless dogs in their communities.