A rescue puppy who endured a nightmare start to her life suffered fresh heartbreak when she was returned within 24 hours of being adopted.
The fact that Boo is even alive today is nothing short of a miracle. The local animal services found her living as a stray with her siblings. Later reunited with their mother in a kennel, Boo’s situation took another alarming turn when their mom tried to kill the puppies.
At that age, Boo and her siblings needed to eat every two hours. But with their mom no longer trusted to provide that and the shelter unable to offer around-the-clock care, the authorities sought help from outside.
That’s where Compassionate Canine Society, a home-based non-profit rescue located in El Paso, Texas, came in. They agreed to take on three of the litter, including Boo. It was no easy fix, though.
“We bottle fed them for about a week, and then Boo got pneumonia and both of her brothers got it shortly after her,” Payton Brianne from the Compassionate Canine Society told Newsweek.
“The vet said they probably wouldn’t survive, it’s just too much strain on their little bodies, but somehow all three did. Now they’re all happy and healthy pups!”
TikTok/compassionate canine society
Brianne said that Boo has always been something of a “lone wolf” at the rescue. “She loves exploring new areas and hiding spots to just hang out by herself. Her favorite thing is taking a toy into our outdoor fireplace and just hanging out.”
Statistically speaking, as a puppy, Boo should have the best possible chance of being adopted. A study conducted by the website Priceonomics, using adoption data from Petfinder, found that 95 percent of puppies listed on the site find homes.
It hasn’t worked out that way for Boo, though.
Boo was initially adopted by an unnamed woman under the Compassionate Canine Society’s “Foster to Adopt” program. The idea was that she would spend two weeks as a foster dog and, if everything went well, she would be adopted. Sadly, she wasn’t.
“She took Boo home on a Sunday and then the very next morning she said she was crying too much and that she wanted to return her,” Brianne said. ” We told her she could bring her anytime and when she returned that evening she had the big knot on her head.”
While returns are an unfortunate reality in the world of animal rescue, Brianne was more concerned about the condition Boo came back in.
“We’ve never had any dog returned before,” she said. “We have no problem with dogs being returned, though. We included in her contract that she could bring her back to us at any time, so that’s not a problem. The issue was that she came back injured.”
Boo’s situation had many animal lovers on social media devastated, with a video posted to the rescue’s TikTok page sparking a raft of crying emojis from saddened viewers.
There is positive news on the horizon, though.
The bump has reduced significantly since then, and while it is painful to see a rescue returned so soon, the fact Boo came back to a home-based rescue rather than a standard shelter made things a little easier.
“She reintegrated with the other dogs no problem and is back to enjoying her little hiding spots around the house,” Brianne said.
Boo has not been short on offers. She has a meet and greet in the pipeline and is heading to a foster home soon. Even so, Brianne is keen to underline the qualities anyone wanting to adopt Boo will need to have.
“Because she’s a puppy she’s going to need a very patient family with experience in training,” she said. “She is currently too young to potty train so her new family will have to work on that with her as well as all of the other basics like commands, crate training, leash training, etc.”
After everything she has been through to get this far, a forever home is the least Boo deserves.