Dog leaves shelter after 175 days and does 'happy dance' in the rain for the first time
Apart from playing and sumptuous treats, there’s nothing more a dog would love to have than freedom. This truth speaks tenfold to the poor dogs that are locked up in shelters.
Although they’re given proper care in shelters and it’s better than being homeless, being in an animal shelter for quite a while could negatively affect dogs.
According to HowIMetMyDog.com:
“A shelter environment is sensory overload for a dog. New smells, unfamiliar people, and strange sounds can all cause extreme stress. A nervous dog is a fearful dog and in a shelter environment they become even more fearful, lessening their chances of someone wanting to adopt them.”
They added:
“As days become weeks and weeks become months or even years, dogs with long-term shelter stays can become sensitized to loud noises, quick movements and other dogs. Often times, dogs that are fearful do not present well in shelter kennels and therefore do not generate adoption interest and end up staying in the shelter even longer or being euthanized.”
Just like many other dogs, Rambo was also locked up in those cold steel cages before.
He too was once in a shelter and stayed there for a total of 175 days until he finally had a foster mom, Julie Saraceno from Pasco, Washington.
In one Instagram video taken by Saraceno, a shelter volunteer, she managed to capture a heartwarming moment when Rambo finally had a taste of freedom.
The video shows the free dog on a spacious lawn under the pouring rain. At first, he tries to sniff on things that are perhaps, new to his eyes.
Then shortly after, when he realized that there were no more bars and walls surrounding him, he runs freely and wildly around the lawn.
At long last, he felt free and remembered how to be a playful dog once again.
After filming the precious moment, Saraceno decided to share it with Rambo’s rescuers and previous carers.
“I cried happy tears when his foster mom sent me the video,” shelter volunteer Julie Saraceno told The Dodo. “That was his second day in his foster home, and the absolute joy in his eyes and the feeling of freedom was wonderful to watch.”
Dogs just want to have fun.
Dogs are naturally playful and agile, so imagine them being contained and restrained for nearly 6 months. Although animal shelters want nothing but the well-being of their rescued animals, there’s no denying that they could only do so much, especially because most of these shelters are non-profit.
It’s hard to operate, let alone maintain an animal facility without enough funds. As much as they would like to give their rescues the freedom that they deserve, they just couldn’t because of limited resources.
We are not saying that it is bad to shop for dogs, but we highly recommend adopting one from shelters. This way, you are not just giving these poor animals a new home but also a new forever family and freedom.
Hopefully, more and more people would foster and eventually adopt dogs so they could free more of them, just like what happened to Rambo.
Watch Rambo as he runs wild and free in the open for the first time after 175 days.
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