Olena Kagui was casually scrolling through her Facebook feed on her way back on the subway when she saw something that broke her heart. It was a young pitbull that was surrendered to a kill-shelter after his family realized they were having a baby. The pooch’s big eyes caught the woman’s attention, and she knew she had to help him somehow.
Kagui usually scrolls right past these posts. Seeing heart-wrenching pictures of dogs she can’t help, makes her feel helpless. The look on the face of this pitty caught her eye because he seemed so different. The post said that his name was Smiley. Sadly though, he didn’t smile much anymore. Smiley was house-trained, “friendly and outgoing”, and could spend days playing with his squeaky toys. It tore her heart seeing that this lively and beautiful pitbull, was surrendered and about to be put down, simply because his family was having a baby.
She looked at the comments and to her disappointment, no one seemed interested in helping the pooch. She began to cry uncontrollably. Olena’s husband was surprised to see his wife sobbing like crazy when she got home. With that being said, the man strongly objected taking in the doggo. He said that they have too much on their plate at these uncertain times. It took some persistence but the woman eventually convinced him to foster the dog.
The two got in touch with Pound Hounds Res-Q, a local rescue organization. Pound Hounds Res-Q tried to pull the pooch out of the shelter before but had nowhere to house him. Kagui gladly told them that she’ll be happy to give the pooch a temporary home.
Fostering Smiley soon proved to be a lot harder than expected. The doggo was terrified of anything that moved and sat there quietly, refusing to make eye contact. Despite that, it was apparent that Smiley was house trained. He never chewed on anything other than his squeaky toys, never climbed their furniture, and knew the two were there to help him. Sadly, after being let down by humans in the past, Smiley found it hard to bond with them and remained distant.

Despite things looking quite dire at first, Smiley’s road to recovery wasn’t a long one. The pooch seemed calmer and more open with each passing day. A week after his arrival, the two allowed him to sleep in their bedroom. The two woke up to a lively pooch, who they almost didn’t recognize. He wagged his tail excessively and stared at them with eyes full of anticipation. It wasn’t long before the two fell in love with Smiley’s bubbly personality.
As a matter of fact, they loved him so much, that they ended up adopting him! We’re pretty sure that it was Olena’s plan all along, but either way – Thank you for giving Smiley the forever home he deserves!
Share this story with your friends and family to raise the awareness of dog abandonment.
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