Dog is ecstatic to see old owners at shelter until she realizes they’re there for another dog
Dogs have history and memories, just like humans do!
Knowing that, we should all do our best to treat our furry friends with the love and respect they deserve. Sadly, that doesn’t always happen, and the resulting stories can be heartbreaking.
Zuzu is a German Shepherd who lost her dad when she was two-years-old.
Zuzu soon became depressed and would often cry and whine for hours at a time. She wasn’t given the time to heal properly and even tried to escape the yard a few times by jumping over the fence and getting into the neighbor’s yard.
To make matters worse, the neighbors who owned the yard that Zuzu was escaping to weren’t understanding.
They would often call animal control and get Zuzu taken to the Downey Animal Control Center in California. After it happened one time, the rescue center just assumed that Zuzu was a stray and processed her like one!
The staff knew that something was wrong when Zuzu acted unlike other dogs who were rescued off the streets.
“She is a friendly girl but I sensed sadness and confusion,” Desi Lara, a volunteer at the shelter told The Dodo. “Most dogs zoom around the yard. She treaded softly, nervous to look around.”
She was shy and nervous, clearly not comfortable with letting people near. That behavior continued until one fateful day.
That nervous and shy behavior all of a sudden changed, and the volunteers had no idea what had happened.
A family had come to the shelter and were looking for a dog to add to their family! When Zuzu saw them, she was so excited, and the shelter staff was bewildered – then, reality struck.
The tail-wagging, bright-eyed dog before them had realized that this family was her old one!
She knew who they were immediately! The family even knew who she was! They got up next to the fence and started petting the ecstatic dog. As the staff watched, they believed they were watching a touching and heart-warming moment.
“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.”
Then reality hit. The family was happy to see Zuzu, but they didn’t want anything to do with her.
After she escaped, the family had no interest in finding her again. They were there to look for a dog that wasn’t going to escape, despite that behavior just coming as a result of Zuzu’s trauma. The family wasn’t willing to work with the pup on healing and opted to just get a new one.
This shocking story is heartbreaking to learn about.
Poor Zuzu was so excited to see her family and was then quickly ignored as they decided she was too much to handle. The shelter knows that she is going to find the perfect home (and one that is willing to spend the time to love her as she needs)! It’s just a matter of time.
Check out the video below!
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