Samantha, a 4-year-old American bulldog, after wandering the streets of south Florida, the sweet dog found her way to Miami-Dade Animal Services. A heartbroken shelter dog with a sad face made rescuers burst into tears.
Volunteers from the shelter cleaned up Samantha and provided her with the medical care she needed. Soon she was ready to find her permanent home, so her new friends put her on their adoptable list and started promoting her picture.
Everyone at the shelter is enamored with Samantha and hopes that she will find her family quickly, but to her surprise, a year goes by without any investigation. As the months passed, shelter dog Samantha’s frown deepened.
More than a year later, MDAS has reached full capacity and can no longer accommodate Samantha. They reached out to Humans and Animals United to see if they could help find a home for the adorable dog and sent in a few photos of Samantha in her kennel heartbroken at the shelter.
“Those photos broke us,” says Rosa Fond, founder and president of HAU. “We decided to pick her up, and then we would calculate the rest.” Before long, a volunteer from HAU was outside the MDAS door, ready to drive Samantha to her new temporary home. She loaded the dog into the car and started driving home when she noticed Samantha was having trouble with the change.
“Samantha didn’t really respond to the person who picked her up,” Fond said. “She was too scared.” Volunteers tried to make Samantha comfortable in the car, but she soon realized that her efforts weren’t working. So she pulled over and started talking to Samantha in a soft, soothing voice. She stopped the car and only talked to her for about 10 minutes. That’s when Samantha started to open up more. She started smiling as the volunteer was talking to her.
A moment later, Samantha’s uncertain expression turned into a grin that reached her ears. The once lonely dog finally knows that it has been seen and that it will soon be loved. The volunteer then released the puppy with a local trainer, who offered to board the train and work with Samantha for 30 days. It wasn’t a forever home, but Samantha immediately began to thrive in her new environment.
After a month at the training facility, Samantha finally found a foster home. She’s still looking for a family forever, but in the meantime, she’s interested in finding out what it’s like to have a home. Although she cannot speak, Fond can tell that Samantha understands the loving words the new rescuers say to her. The sweet dog has a natural ability to connect with people on an emotional level.
For now, Samantha will continue to enjoy the love she receives from her new foster family. She is still waiting for her happily ever after, but fortunately, the hardest part of her story is far behind her. From here on out, Samantha will know only love.