Published on Feb 20, 2025 at 12:13 PM
In a Grand Rapids, Michigan, Meijer parking lot, a small black-and-white dog darted between cars and carts. She appeared to be alone and scared.
A group of shoppers noticed the nervous dog and worked together to earn her trust. It took some time, but they were finally able to secure her — and quickly discovered why she appeared so distressed.
Around the dog’s collar was a piece of rope securing a little baggie with a note. The note read simply: “My name is Rukey. Please help me, take me home.”
Realizing that Rukey was abandoned, the group of rescuers brought her to Kent County Animal Shelter.
“We get a lot of abandoned pets, but we don’t generally see them with a note,” Angela Hollinshead, director of Kent County Animal Shelter, told The Dodo. “This is a first for us where we have a dog that was turned loose in a public space with a note like this that’s landed on our doorstep.”
The shelter believes Rukey is a young Schipperke mix, and while it takes her a bit of time to warm up to new people, the staff can tell she’s a loving, loyal dog.
“She’s a very petite, little dog, and she’s very sweet,” Hollinshead said. “Once she was at the shelter, I had the opportunity to spend some time with her. And she’s shy, but once she trusts you, she’s very sweet.”
The shelter posted Rukey’s story on Facebook and addressed her former owner in a message that was full of compassion and empathy for the impossible decision they felt they had to make.
“To the person who had to make the heartbreaking decision to let her go — please know that Rukey is safe and deeply loved by our staff,” the shelter wrote on Facebook. “Her gentle personality has already won our hearts, and we will ensure she is cared for and finds a wonderful, loving family. We can only imagine how difficult this choice was for you, and we sincerely hope you find brighter days ahead.”
“As a reminder, please be kind to yourself and others. We never know the battles someone is silently facing,” they added.
Since arriving at the shelter, Rukey has been spayed and received a clean bill of health, which made her ready for adoption. And shortly after the shelter opened today, a family walked in and fell in love with the shy pup.
They knew immediately it was meant to be.
Though her stay at the shelter was short, Rukey made a lasting impression on everyone she met. And the shelter hopes her story opens people’s hearts.
“She is off to her new home, bringing joy to her new family!” the shelter wrote on Facebook. “Please remember to choose kindness.”
Kent County Animal Shelter offers support for area pet owners struggling to care or feed their animals. If you need assistance, please look at the resources offered.
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Little Pink Puppy Gets Confused For A Human Baby Whenever He Goes Out
Then, he started growing peach fuzz 🥹
By Ashley Ortiz
Last August, when Cleft Pup Brigade posted a photo of Harold, a 4-month-old French bulldog, foster mom Andrea felt compelled to take him in. The little guy wasn’t like other pups — he was completely hairless with pink, inflamed skin that required serious care — but Andrea was willing to go the extra mile for him.
“We saw him on their Instagram and immediately fell in love with him,” Andrea told the Dodo in a recent video. “I said, ‘I know that I can get this puppy turned around.’”
Andrea welcomed Harold home, and as she fell more in love with the pup, her heart broke knowing just how much he’d been through in his first few months.
“Harold is not a hairless Frenchie; he just doesn’t have hair because he was rescued from a severe neglect case,” Andrea said. “For him to go from birth to the state he was in, that is just such a concentrated amount of time for a small puppy to be in discomfort.”
Harold was in desperate condition, but he luckily landed a foster family determined to care for him. They immediately started him on a skincare regimen that involved three essential steps.
“We gave him [medicated] baths every other day, and he was, like, so comfortable in the bath. He just likes being warm,” Andrea said. “And then we would slather him with lotion because that was what was gonna help that hair growth. And then we would put T-shirts or sweaters on him just to kind of soak it in extra.”
The resilient pup was grateful for his therapeutic baths and cozy sweaters. Thanks to his foster parents’ tireless care, Harold’s skin quickly improved, and his personality blossomed.
“After a week or two, we started to notice his peach fuzz growing back all over his body,” Andrea said. “It was really quickly after we brought him into our foster care that we could see that he just had this incredible personality. It’s almost like he enjoys making people laugh.”
The only thing Harold loved more than making his foster parents laugh was being nestled in their arms.
“He loves to be held,” Andrea said. “We would take him to a lot of places, and we would hold him really close to us.”
Sometimes, while accompanying his family on an outing, Harold would be mistaken for someone completely different.
“When he wasn’t fully potty trained, sometimes we would have a diaper on him, and people would say, ‘I saw you sitting over there, and I thought you were holding a baby,’ or ‘I thought you were holding a Sphynx cat.’”
Passersby were always shocked to learn he was just a Frenchie recovering from a difficult past. Still, Harold delighted everyone he met — including his new forever family.
“We found a perfect family for him, and they have a dog already named Hippolita, who’s a very beautiful bully breed, and she and Harold at the meet-and-greet were so sweet together and so playful,” Andrea said. “[Harold’s] a puppy. He’s a wild puppy, but she was so patient with him. We knew that that was gonna be a perfect home for Harold.”
As Andrea predicted, Harold adapted to his new family seamlessly. And he’s been enjoying life with them ever since.
You can see Harold with his new family here:
Andrea misses having Harold around, but she’s happy he scored a loving family for the rest of his life. While their time together was brief, Andrea is grateful to have even been a part of his story.
“When you are able to just give all of this love and attention to a dog who really, really needs it, the reward is seeing them heal, seeing them thrive,” Andrea said. “It really is so special to be a part of that.”
To keep up with Harold’s adventures, follow him on Instagram.
To help pups like Harold get the care they need, you can donate here.
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