If you need to give up your pet, for whatever reason, there are proper, ethical ways to do so. You can try to find someone who can take care of them, or surrender them to an animal shelter who will try to find them a new home.
But the worst way is to abandon your animal without warning, leaving your pet wondering when you’re going to return and relying on the uncertainty that someone will give them the care they need.
That was the case for one pit bull, whose thoughtless owner disappeared one day, leaving it up to strangers to take care of her and find her a new home.
About three years ago, a man owned a pit bull puppy named Eva, and they lived in an apartment in Queens, New York. However, the building manager said the dog couldn’t stay, according to The Dodo.
It’s an understandable reason for having to give up a dog, but the owner wasn’t prepared for the responsibility of finding a new home for Eva.
The owner left Eva at the dog grooming salon, where she stayed in a crate. It was ostensibly temporary housing, but the owner showed up less and less frequently, leaving the poor pit bull constantly wondering when he’d return.
Then one day, he just never came back.
Eva was abruptly abandoned, and for the next three years living in a small space in the basement of the salon.
Eva’s former owner also stopped making payments when he disappeared, leaving the groomers to abruptly care for the dog with limited help and resources, but they did everything they could, taking her for walks and getting her vaccinated.
When Sam Taylor, a musician, heard about Eva’s situation from a friend, he was heartbroken.
“She’s lived her life in this little basement cell,” Sam told The Dodo. “The whole situation just really got to me to the point where I thought, ‘Eva just needs a home. This is insane.’”
So he made it his mission to try to get the dog adopted.
While Eva lacked social experience interacting with other dogs—” She just hasn’t had the chance to be a dog,” Sam said—she was very friendly and great with people.
“Eva is about as sweet as can be despite her terrible ordeal – calm, patient, smart, friendly,” Sam wrote on Instagram. “It’s hard to imagine the circumstance that would lead someone to abandon such a special dog.”
“Will you help Eva? She deserves a family that will love her and gives her the best life.”
Luckily, despite a long ordeal, this story has a happy ending. On August 15, Sam announced that Eva had found a new home!
He thanked everyone who had offered to help or expressed interest in adopting: “It brings me such joy to know that she is free and her future is filled with light and love,” Sam wrote on Instagram.
While it’s a happy ending for Eva, Sam took the opportunity to encourage people to consider adopting a dog from one of the many shelters that are underfunded and overcrowded with animals looking for homes.
“Eva now has a home, but there are so many animals in need,” Sam wrote. “Please keep your hearts open and consider rescuing from your local shelter.”
It’s a heartwarming reminder of the importance of taking good care of our dogs, and helping animals in need!
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