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It’s vitally important for people to understand all of the responsibilities that come with dog ownership before they take one home. Otherwise, dogs will keep on getting abandoned and heartbroken.

Dog adoption should be a joyous occasion. Humans gain a new family member. And a dog no longer has to live a life of uncertainty.

But sadly, it doesn’t always work out. This story demonstrates just how tragic it can be for dogs.

Zuzu, a German Shepherd mix, came to her first family as a puppy. She had no idea how lucky she was to go straight from her mother and to her own home.

She soon made friends with her human mom and dad. But she grew especially close to the family’s older dog.

When the older dog died, everyone was devastated. But Zuzu became incredibly depressed.

After a few months, she was still upset. Her owners made a shocking decision.

They decided that Zuzu was not for them anymore. So they drove the dog to a shelter and gave her up.

Zuzu had no idea what was going on. She was already depressed. But this strange new environment made the depression grow even stronger.

But then one day, Zuzu caught a familiar scent in the air. Then she heard some voices that she recognized.

She realized that her human owners had returned. She figured that they had missed her so much.

Zuzu started wagging her tail and reached through the fence for her owners. They pet the dog a little, seemingly happy to be reunited.

But then the owners explained to the shelter volunteers that they weren’t there to bring Zuzu back home again. Instead, they wanted another dog who was “less depressing.”

The shelter refused to give the owners another dog, reasoning that they may abandon another one as they had done to Zuzu.

Once more, the owners left Zuzu at the shelter. The dog’s depression came back with a vengeance.

Luckily, one of the shelter volunteers was filming the moment when Zuzu thought she was being reunited with her owners. This video resonated with the shelter’s Facebook followers.

Pretty soon, the shelter had had hundreds of calls to adopt the dog.

In no time at all, Zuzu found a new home. And this time it would be a forever home.

A report of Zuzu’s story then made its way onto YouTube. It soon went viral. To date, it has gained over 5.6 million views. The video also has more than 61,000 like and 14,400 comments. People have been saying things like this:

Zuzu now has the perfect life with her new owners. But she still remembers and misses her original owners.

She still doesn’t understand why they left her at the shelter. Luckily, these new owners would never consider giving Zuzu up, no matter what.

Clearly, Zuzu always deserved better than her original owners.

They only wanted Zuzu to make them happy. The second she was upset, they decided to give her up, without a second thought. Anyone who truly cares about dogs knows that they require commitment and dedication. Yes, it can be tiring sometimes. But it’s worth it to give a dog a good life!

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Source: Inside Edition, Bored Panda, The Dodo