Sometimes the staff at the DeKalb County Animal Shelter will find abandoned animals on their doorstep, but one morning the found the largest animal on their doorstep to date.
Last Friday morning, a staff member at the Georgia facility found a human lying on their sidewalk fast asleep.
They soon found out that the homeless man hadn’t just would up there by chance. He had a reason for arriving at the shelter, he was searching for dog.
“Our kennel tech woke him up, and the man said his dog had gone missing,” Shelter Spokesperson Karen Hirsch told The Dodo.
The spent every last penny he had in order to pay for a bus ride to the shelter in hopes of finding his best friend.
The shelter’s staff was happy to tell the man that a stray had been picked up two weeks earlier, but she was at their new facility all the way across town.
The problem with that was that the man had already spent all his money getting to this facility and their new facility was a train ride away.
So, the kennel tech decided to pay for his train ride. It was obvious that these two had a beautiful bond when the man arrived at the shelter. His dog Tata, who he described as happy and healthy, jumped into his arms to give him kisses and hopped around him frantically.
“We see some amazing reunions here at LifeLine’s DeKalb Animal Services, but this one was extra special,” the shelter wrote on their Facebook page.
Their happy reunion was caught on video.
“You could see the joy in his face when they were reunited,” Hirsch said. “It was wonderful. The joy for both of them was palpable. It lifted everyone’s spirit to see it. Love is love, no matter who it’s coming from. He probably puts the dog first in his life, because without her he doesn’t have anything.”
The shelter waived their standard adoption fees and offered their assistance to the man and his dog if they needed it in the future. DeKalb County Animal Services recently started a program to help the homeless care for their animal friends.
“Some people don’t understand giving a pet back to a homeless person, but some of those people take better care of their pets than some of us with homes,” Hirsch explained. “If you see a homeless person with a pet, and are hesitant to give them money, you can give them dog food, or even flea medicine. They also need bottles of water. Just basic supplies that humans and dogs can use. Their pet is sometimes the only thing they have in their lives.”
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