Some dogs living in animal shelters have to wait a long time before finding their ‘forever home.’ It can be heartbreaking for them to see all the other animals leaving for families, while they are constantly overlooked.
Imagine being the very last animal in an animal shelter.
That was the case for this dog, who was left all alone and nearly gave up hope… until he finally got his own happy ending.
Capone, a Staffordshire Terrier mix, spent several years at the Ionia County Animal Shelter in Michigan.
“We didn’t expect it to take so long to find someone who would open their heart to him,” volunteer Sammie Vincent told FOX 17.
He was adopted at one point, but it wasn’t forever: the family brought him back to the shelter after a year, which took a toll on the poor dog’s spirits.
“He lost a lot of weight because he just didn’t have the appetite he had at home,” Carly Quinn, who works at the animal shelter, told The Dodo.
“It was very difficult to get him to eat. We had to tempt him daily with treats and various kinds of wet food. It broke his heart.”
Capone’s luck didn’t improve much after returning to the shelter. People passed him by, and others showed interest only to never show up.
To make it even more heartbreaking, it got to the point where Capone was the only animal without a family.
“All of the cages were empty, except for the sweet, quiet, friendly Capone,” Carly recalled.
By early 2019, Capone was seven years old and still had no family. But the shelter didn’t give up and doubled their efforts to find a home for him.
They wrote about the dog’s sad story on Facebook, hoping that someone would open their heart and adopt him. Amazingly, the post was seen by exactly the right people.
A woman named Ashlee Long and her husband John saw Capone and immediately fell in love with the dog: “I just fell in love with his face,” Ashlee told FOX 17.
They visited the shelter, and it clicked right away – apparently, Capone was ready to go home after all that time:
“He came up to us and started cuddling, wagging his tail, we just knew we had to take him,” she said.
They brought Capone home, and the dog later had a big, warm smile on his face – knowing he had finally arrived with his family:
Capone’s friends at the shelter knew it was meant to be and cried tears of joy when they finally saw their last dog leave the shelter.
“It was truly heartwarming,” Carly told The Dodo.
Beautiful! It took a while, but we know Capone will finally be happy in his new forever home. Never give up hope!
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