Woman Has Best Response to Pug Abandoned at Boyfriend's Work—'Welcome Home'

A California woman had the perfect response after learning a pug had been dumped by his owner at her boyfriend's place of work. Approximately 3.1 million dogs enter animal shelters in the U.S. every year, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Of that number, around 2 million end up being adopted while roughly 710,000 are returned to their owners. Given his own unique circumstances, the latter always seemed unlikely for Bentley the pug. "I don't know anything about his life before," Stephanie, who lives in Los Angeles with her boyfriend, told Newsweek. "Some random lady just left him at my boyfriend's work and never came back." In most instances, Bentley would have likely been brought to his local dog shelter in the hope that he might find a new forever home. But what Bentley could never have anticipated was that he'd already found one. "My partner and I have always wanted a pug but we never thought buying would be a good idea," Stephanie said. "I was in my last week of college before graduating and my partner called me with this news." Though Bentley might well have found someone to take him home at the shelter, the fact is that some dogs struggle to find a new owner and, in some instances, end up euthanized. Around 390,000 dogs are euthanized in the U.S. every year. The idea of Bentley going through something like that was too much for Stephanie to handle. "I just knew that if someone called the shelter they were probably going to 'put him to sleep' if no one adopted him since he's an older dog," she said. "At the time I was thinking about me almost being done with school, being able to have more free time to give him the love and attention he needed, and finally have a pug of our own."

So, after some discussion with her partner, it was decided that he would bring Bentley home, and a new chapter in the pooch's life and theirs would begin. It's a chapter they are all enjoying so far. "He's brought nothing but happiness in our home, I really believe he was a blessing sent from God," Stephanie said. Bentley has certainly been making himself at home, with his new human companions already falling in love with their pug's many adorable quirks. "He's a homebody for sure," Stephanie said. "Loves to go on little walks and enjoy the breeze but doesn't like to be out too much as he gets real tired and starts dragging his feet. When he's home he loves to take naps and play with his toys and also loves watching movies with us." Stephanie took to TikTok to share a clip of Bentley's story with the video posted under the handle anie.xo alongside a caption telling their new pet pup: "Welcome home." Many of those watching the footage of Bentley were left confused and angry at why he was abandoned in the first place. "Why would someone abandon a pug?" one user asked with another commenting: "He looks so sad. He understands he was abandoned." There was also praise for Stephanie and her partner for giving Bentley a new home to call his own. "You are amazing," one user wrote with another adding: "Thank you for taking in that little baby." Stephanie has been blown away by the response to the video. "I never thought he would receive the amount of love and attention he has been receiving and this is all new to me," she said. However, she's keen to maintain their privacy and is not seeking help. "I just posted the video because I was happy to finally be a pug mom and most importantly be able to give him another chance of having a loving home," she said. "My heart couldn't bear that someone could abandon a dog randomly somewhere."