A severely ill dog’s reaction when people see her has melted the hearts of animal-lovers.
Shyanne is a dog at risk of euthanasia and when Madeline, a dog mum and euthanasia list volunteer, went to visit her at BARC Animal Shelter and Adoptions in Houston, Texas she instantly lit up. The pooch went from looking sad and scared with her head held down low to quickly perking up and even wagging her tail in a video shared on social media.
She allowed Madeline to stroke her face and appeared to relax. Overlaying the heartwarming clip, the dog lover wrote: “Sometimes all it takes is showing up.”
When she visited the dog at the end of July, Madeline said Shyanne was 10 months old, isn’t walking on a leash and will be on the euthanasia list soon. She posted the video on Instagram and in the caption she revealed that she had come across Shyanne online a few days ago and couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Madeline added: “Against my better judgment, I went to meet her, and she’s just as special as I expected. She’s the most squinty-eyed, waggy-tailed, submissive little girl ever.
“She kept hovering that leg like she was gonna roll over any minute! She won’t walk on a leash, and won’t even come up from her bed.
“She tinkled when another volunteer went to pet her too.All she needs is a quiet environment (even better if it has another confident dog in it) for her to blossom into the girl I know she is!”
Shyanne was then taken to Pippy’s Pals Rescue, which focuses on dogs in Houston who have found themselves at risk of euthanasia. She has since been taken in by a foster parent and renamed Pebbles, as the rescue organisation shared in an updated post on Facebook.
Madeline’s Instagram video showing how scared and nervous the dog was when she visited her has amassed a staggering 3.7 million views, 375,000 likes and more than 3,600 comments. One user asked: “Any update on her? This just came on my feed and now I’m crying.”
Another said: “That sweet girl, [I] hope someone amazing adopts her.” A third added: “What a beautiful, gentle, sweet girl. Someone take her.” Others left comments, such as “her melting in your hand, sweet girl”, “omg she is precious” and “I’m sobbing.”
Pippy’s Pal’s Rescue gave social media users an update on Facebook on August 1. It said: “Pebbles, formerly known as Shyanne, is doing incredibly well in her foster home and we are so happy to see it!
This girl captured the hearts of many. For us, she reminded us of dogs we have loved and one that we have lost.
“She holds a really special place for our team. And we are honored to be her guardians in guiding her through her post-shelter experience.”
The rescue organisation added: “While we know people are very excited at the prospect of adopting her, we will not be engaging with any potential adopters for a few weeks while we let her open up and see her true personality. We will announce when she will be ready for adoption and only review and accept applications at that time.”
