Puppy's Adopters Don't Show Up at Shelter, But He's In for a Big Surprise

After being ghosted by his first adopter, a 9-week-old puppy got to have his happily-ever-after when he was finally adopted by the same person who had already taken in his mother. In a post shared on TikTok on Saturday by Central Missouri Humane Society (CMHS), under the username @cmhspets, the small corgi, Dimitri, who is now officially Ollie, can be seen lying down in a kennel, sad and lonely. The person who was supposed to adopt him had failed to show up at their appointment. A caption reads: "I got brought into a scary place yesterday with my siblings... People came to meet us, and we all had homes lined up. "When I woke up they were gone... and my adopter couldn't take me home anymore. I miss my siblings. the people here are nice but I am ready for a family. I want to find a home..."

Camryn Long, content coordinator for CMHS, told Newsweek that Dimitri (Ollie) was initially brought to the shelter with his mom and his four other siblings, but while they all got adopted, he was left behind alone. "This is obviously a highly sought-after breed, and quickly we had adopters lined up for all of the puppies and soon the mom! The puppies got spayed or neutered the next day, and all of the puppies got adopted that afternoon, except for Dimitri," Long said. "His adopters never showed up and did not inform us that they were no longer adopting which led to Dimitri having to spend the night in the shelter." However, after the scariest night of his life, brave little Ollie got lucky, even more than all of his siblings who had been adopted the previous day. Long added: "The next day, once the adopters of the mom heard that one of the puppies' adopters never showed up, they decided to adopt Dimitri and the mom, Olga, together! They are doing very well in their new home, and the owners have changed Dimitri's name to Ollie, and Olga is now Lola." While Ollie had to spend one scary night in the shelter, many other dogs spend months in their care. "Currently, our longest-stay onsite dog has been with us for 324 days, only spending a few nights in a foster home before being returned. All dogs deserve love, and we are hopeful all of our pups will find their perfect homes like Lola and Ollie," Long said.

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The Humane Society of Macomb in Shelby Township, Michigan, says the most-common reasons why owners give up their dogs include age, allergies, behavioral issues, cost, moving, new pets and shedding. Each year, 6.3 million pets enter U.S. shelters, which is an average of 17,260 a day, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The number of dogs and cats taken in by pet shelters hit 46,807 during January 2023, an increase of 1,744 compared with January 2022, the 24Pet 'Shelter Watch Report' found. Around 920,000 surrendered animals are euthanized every year. Shelters are striving to minimize euthanasia rates by promoting adoption campaigns, spaying and neutering programs, and behavior rehabilitation. The video quickly went viral on social media, getting viewers from across TikTok. It has so far received over 3.5 million views and 524,000 likes on the platform. One user, ALI, said: "As someone who owns a border collie puppy rn [right now], I started crying knowing this could've been her." Raquel added: "See this is why I can't work at a shelter because I would have taken all of the puppies so they didn't get separate." Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.