Before Kailey was adopted into her “furever” home. She was a shelter dog that had been passed over by family after family for nearly a year. In accordance with the shelter’s policy, if she didn’t get adopted soon, she was going to be euthanized. Jacqueline Berlin, Kailey’s adoptive mom, was not about to let that happen. And thankfully she didn’t because Kailey ended up saving dozens of peoples’ lives.
Unfortunately, like many shelter dogs, Kailey – a 3-year-old shepherd mix – suffered some unknown trauma in her past. As a result, she was skittish of humans she didn’t know and would snap at potential owners.
“Her one issue was that something has happened to her in in her past so that if you try to touch her and she did not know you she would snap at you,” Berline told Fox5 Atlanta. “Because of her issue, it was really hard to get her adopted.”
At a loss as to what to do, Berlin made a final attempt to find Kailey a home.
Jacqueline had the genius idea to appeal to introverts. She posted a picture of Kailey online and told her followers that though Kailey makes a rough first impression, once you get to know her, she is sweet and fiercely loyal, just like introverts. Her logic worked.
Suzy Chandler saw Berlin’s Facebook post and immediately knew that Kailey was the dog for her. Chandler later recalled, “The story of what she had been through…just pulled on our heartstrings, we just thought we would be the perfect people for her. It was a perfect match.”
Suzy scheduled a meet and greet with Kailey, and just moments after meeting her, she knew she wanted to take her home. Jacqueline made it happen, and finally, Kailey had her furever home.
The story doesn’t end there, however. After being in her new home for one month, Kailey started to warm up to her new humans and their other pooch. However, though she was starting to show some affection, she remained wary of strangers and avoided human interaction as much as possible. Which was why Suzy was so surprised when, one evening, Kailey started acting up.
“All of a sudden she just started barking and looking at us and growling, like trying to get our attention and I said well what’s the matter with her…” Suzy recalls. “[Kailey] pulled me directly over to the side yard. Right away I smelled overpowering gas and [heard] a loud whooshing sound.”
Right outside of the Chandlers’ apartment complex was a dangerous and potentially fatal gas leak. Had Kailey not have sensed the leak, Suzy, her family and the rest of the families in the building would have been in grave danger.
Kailey’s story goes to show that there is more to a pooch than meets the eye and that with the right love and care, they can go on to do great things.
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