Senior shelter dog with “everything going against him” gets happy ending

A senior shelter dog who suffered the double heartbreak of being abandoned by his former owner and then spending over a year in a shelter has finally found the forever home and happy ending his story so richly deserved.

When Red first arrived at the McKamey Animal Shelter (MAC) in Chattanooga, Tennessee, he was still reeling from having his home and the life he once knew ripped away from him.

“Red was sadly abandoned by his former owner at a residence after they moved out,” Lauren Mann, director of advancement at the MAC, told Newsweek. “Our animal protection officers rescued him and brought him to MAC to find a new loving home.”

Red turned eight years old while he was at the shelter and Mann admits part of the reason he failed to get adopted for so long was that he “had everything going against him.”

“He is an older dog, heartworm positive, is very high energy, and not good with cats,” she said. “With the national sheltering crisis continuing into the worst it’s been yet, dogs like Red are being overlooked and forgotten in shelters.”

Crucially, though, Red had a few things going for him too though. For starters, Mann said he never seemed to let his situation get him down.

Shelters can be stressful environments for dogs. A 2006 study published in the journal Physiology and Behavior found that dogs entering a shelter had three times the level of the stress hormone cortisol present than canines residing in a standard household.

Red was a dog who had spent a considerable amount of time in a household too and was expected to struggle more than most as a result.

But it’s been quite the opposite with Red who has retained a positive and outgoing demeanor. “Of course, he does get bored in his kennel, but we provide him with lots of toys, playtime, and [as much] enrichment as we can. He has not deteriorated like other dogs may when it comes to this setting,” Mann said.

That outlook made him a popular dog among staff and volunteers. So much so that when Red reached the heartbreaking milestone of 365 days in the shelter, staff decided to turn it into a celebration complete with a dog-friendly cake.

Despite reaching over 400 days at MAC, Mann and the rest of the staff there remained convinced there was someone special out there for him.

“Red would do fantastic in a home with a family who loves to be outside and can spend time with him working on learning more commands, and playing of course,” Mann told Newsweek at the time.

“He likes most dogs he meets and because of how hard of a player he is, we think he would do best in a home with kids aged 8 and over or with kids who are used to being around rowdy dogs.”

There was one more thing Red had in his favor—the power of social media. When Newsweek first reported on Red’s story, there was an outpouring of support for the senior pup, with several readers eager to adopt or keen to shine a light on his situation.

Mann said that Newsweek‘s story “really helped” Red. So much so, in fact, that she was happy to reveal he has been adopted and is settling in well.

“We followed up this week with his adopters to check in,” Mann said. “They shared that they are 1000 percent in love with him! He’s still learning their routine and getting into the groove of things with their other dog, but has made himself right at home and really taken to the gentleman who adopted him out of the whole family.”

Red’s story is complete. The only hope now is that it inspires others to take a chance on a shelter dog or senior pup.

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