A phone was made to the Washington County Animal Shelter in the early days of April informing them that Blue, a stray dog, had arrived at a stranger’s home seeking refuge. The pit bull mix was quickly picked up by an animal control officer and taken back to the shelter.
No one was sure how long Blue had lived on the streets, but the abandoned dog appeared to like every person he met.
“He was a happy-go-lucky dog,” Tammy Davis, the shelter’s executive director, told The Dodo. “He was a little shy at first, and he wasn’t very fond of all the other dogs being around him, but he was extremely affectionate to people and very loving to the staff.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the shelter had to close its doors to the public and make any visits by appointment only. With less foot traffic, Blue sat waiting in his kennel for months — which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
To introduce Blue to some potential adopters, the shelter posted a video of Blue playing with his favorite toy on their Facebook page. Moments later, a comment on the video read, “That’s my dog.”
Six months prior, Blue had vanished from his Tennessee home. His father spent hours looking for him, but in the end had to move to Texas for a job. Prior to seeing the Facebook video of Blue from a friend, he had given up hope of ever seeing his dog again.
The only thing left was to verify the veracity of the individual claiming to be Blue’s owner: Blue squeaky ball was Blue’s favorite toy at the shelter, and you can see him playing with it in our video, according to Davis. “Once we struck up a chat with the owner, he confirmed that he had photos of his dog. He gave us photos of Blue playing with his favorite toy, a blue ball, at home.
Blue’s dad drove 1,200 miles to get his boy, and the reunion was everything they could have hoped for.
“It was very obvious that the dog had a bond with that person,” Davis said. “Blue was shocked for a split second, like, ‘Am I believing my eyes?’ And then it was just immediate kisses and the man was crying, it was great.”
Now, Blue is back with his dad and the two are starting a new life together in Texas full of love, snuggles and squeaky balls.
“We wish that every animal could have a happy ending like that,” Davis said. “It makes all of our hard work worth it to be able to have moments like this.”
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