It’s a heartbreaking reality that many shelter dogs who don’t find homes are euthanized, but thankfully there are people in the world willing to step up and rescue these dogs before it’s too late.
Like one woman, who saw a dog a half hour away from being put to sleep and knew she was meant to save his life.
In December, Trish Bauer, from California, was browsing Instagram when she came across the heartbroken face of a 12-year-old German Shepherd dog named Wilbur, a “sweet, friendly old man” who was about to be euthanized.
The friendly old dog had one last chance to find a home before it was too late: “I need someone to save me right now, or else I’ll be put to sleep,” the Instagram post from FurryTail Endings read.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmcJhNWBFAM/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=14&wp=540&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theanimalclub.net&rp=%2Fdogs%2Fwoman-sees-shelter-dog-about-to-be-euthanized-and-knows-shes-meant-to-save-his-life%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1MwmzHF8v_kIttMlHQgDKnXMm3RaRJ1oUGajeF8_11ppB56oriPizp988#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A1486.0999999046326%2C%22ls%22%3A990.0999999046326%2C%22le%22%3A1299.7999999523163%7DBauer was struck by the dog’s story: “Something about his eyes just called to me,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “He was so defeated, and I knew that same feeling, like life had just given up on him.”
Perhaps it was her own personal battles that made her relate to the poor dog. Almost exactly a year before seeing Wilbur, Bauer had lost a baby to a stillborn birth. Her daughter Lilly had also been born with a rare form of bone cancer.
Bauer wrote to the shelter and learned that the dog was going to be euthanized in a half hour. She quickly headed out to save his life
“Without thinking, I jumped up, woke up my daughter, grabbed a cat leash since it’s all we had and got into the truck to go pick up a random dog I saw on Instagram with the same lost eyes I had,” she told The Dodo.
It was a big leap of faith: while the family had fostered many kittens, they had never taken in a dog — and Bauer’s daughter Lilly was afraid of them. But as soon as she met Wilbur, her fears went away.
