All that many dogs want is someone to love them and be their companion through life. Fortunately, most pet owners are happy with doing just that, giving their dogs a home to live in and a partner to spend their time with.

One dog’s story went viral after she ended up at a local California shelter. What happened next will leave you shaking your head in disgust.

Zuzu arrives at a local shelter

When Zuzu first arrived at the Downey Animal Care Center in Downey, California, she was more than a little depressed. She had been living with her family along with the dog that had fathered her. After her father died, the two-year-old-German shepherd-mix fell into a deep depression.

She had ended up jumping the family’s fence into a neighbor’s yard who called animal control. Thinking she was a stray, animal control had brought Zuzu to the Downey shelter. Shelter staff noticed her sadness right away, but they could not figure out where it came from.

“She is a friendly girl, but I sensed sadness and confusion,” Desi Lara, a volunteer at Downey Animal Care Center, told The Dodo. “Most dogs zoom around the yard. She treaded softly, nervous to look around.”

Zuzu’s family shows up at the shelter

Then one day, when a family walked up to the shelter, Zuzu grew excited. As the family petted her through the fence, she jumped around excitedly. That was then shelter staff figured out that the people petting Zuzu were her old family. They had come back to take her home, or so they thought.

“All of a sudden she was all excited, doing a little zoom,” Lara says. “A joyous personality came out when she saw her people.” But the family told them they were looking for another dog.

Zuzu was abandoned by her family

Shocked by their admission, the shelter staff were told by the family that they didn’t want Zuzu because she kept escaping. And while it is unclear if the family left with another dog that day, what is known is that Zuzu was left behind.

Zuzu’s story goes viral

Heartbroken, the volunteers at the shelter shared Zuzu’s story online. Soon her story had gone viral. Days later, Zuzu was taken in by the Pet Adoption Fund, an organization dedicated to helping abandoned pets by rescuing them from high-kill shelters, rehabilitating them, and finding them good homes to go to.

People clamor to adopt Zuzu

By this point, many people had heard about Zuzu and her sad story, and the Pet Adoption Fund was inundated with offers to adopt Zuzu. Of course, Zuzu could have only one owner.

Eventually, Russ and Judith Gallo were chosen to be Zuzu’s new owners. They had seen Zuzu’s story on the news and were determined to adopt her when one of their dogs died.

Zuzu has a family that loves her

Thankfully, Zuzu has a home to call her own and even has a new doggie sibling, named Dodge, to play with. For more about the Downey Animal Care Center, visit the organization’s Facebook page.

Check out the video below for more on Zuzu’s story and how she finally found a family who truly wanted her.

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Source: Inside Edition

H/T: We Love Animals, Daily Mail, The Dodo