Did you know that there are about 14,000 animal shelters in the United States alone?
Here are just a few numbers that reflect the situation in these shelters:
Each year 1.6 million pets find new owners, alas, but 15% of new owners give them back;
3.3 million dogs enter U.S. animal shelters each year, 25% of which are purebred – either lost or surrendered for various reasons (allergies, personal problems) by their owners;
the most common breeds found in shelters are pit bulls, chihuahuas, followed by labradors, sheepdogs and terriers.
The majority of dogs are stray, 620,000 of which turn out to be “lost dogs”, who are searched for and returned to their former owners every year;
23% of all dog owners adopted a pet into their family through “adoption,” which costs between $25 and $250 to maintain such facilities;
Another interesting fact is that most of the dogs that end up in shelters are under 2 years old. We are going to tell you about one such case today.
One day a young dog, almost a puppy, was brought to the Washington County TN Animal Shelter and given the nickname Roscoe.
He was very different from most of the shelter’s pets, who try to be affectionate with the Center’s staff and are happy to be given attention. During his three years at the shelter, Roscoe did not develop friendships with any of the staff, nor did he show positive emotions on any of the nicest occasions. And there were many of them, as this shelter is staffed exclusively by animal-loving and kind-hearted people.
But one day everything changed dramatically in the dog’s life. He was still living at the shelter, and his owner was still being sought, a picture of Roscoe was posted on social media.
One day a farmer saw his photo and recognized it as his puppy, nicknamed Rant, who had gone missing several years ago. He searched for a long time for Roscoe and looked through all the pictures of dogs in shelters, and only three years later he finally saw the picture of his mature dog!
Further events developed very touching and surprised even the shelter caretakers who had seen a lot. When the dog saw his master approaching the enclosure, he froze, sniffed and… rushed towards him with a joyful squeal. Nobody has ever seen such a Roscoe: the dog rubbed his legs, wagged his tail, jumped happily and showed with all his appearance that he was, finally, happy!
The owner could not hold back tears, he, of course, took his pet. We can only rejoice for them and wish that there are more happy stories in our lives and the lives of our four-legged friends.
