It’s always heartbreaking when owners choose to abandon their dogs, but sometimes the abandonment comes out of desperation rather than cruelty.
While some dogs are simply dumped on the street in the middle of nowhere and left to die, others are carefully left in a place where they can easily find a new home or resources to help them.
Rescuers with the Wisconsin Humane Society recently stumbled upon a dog like that in Green Bay.
The 6-year-old pooch, nicknamed Baby Girl, was found tied to a fire hydrant in the middle of a residential neighborhood. The dog was left with a backpack stuffed with doggy toys and a note that explained why the owner had to give up her pup.
Apparently, Baby Girl had some expensive health issues that her owner couldn’t afford to handle. Rather than letting her dog suffer without treatment, the owner decided to give her a second chance at life with a new family.
The humane society spoke about the owner’s decision on Facebook, calling it a compassionate choice. While they said they were always open to anonymous surrenders, many shelters require fees to surrender a pet or downright refuse owner-surrenders. Of course, those same shelters then get upset when they find animals abandoned by their owners – possibly the same animals that the shelter refused to take in initially!
It’s possible Baby Girl’s owner was hoping to avoid a situation like that. She just wanted her dog to find a loving home and that’s exactly what happened.
The humane society wrote a letter to Baby Girl’s owner in its post. It read:
“We are so sorry you had to part with your best friend. It’s evident just how much you loved her and we can see you did your best while struggling with your own medical complications and challenges of life. We see your love in the bag you carefully packed with all of her favorite things. We see your love in the way you secured her leash so she wouldn’t get hit by a car. We see your love in the way you placed her in the middle of a neighborhood where she’d be quickly found. We see your love in how happy and healthy Baby Girl looks. And we see your love in the note you left, pleading for someone to help her when you no longer could.”
They added, “We see that you did what you thought was best for your beloved pup and we are grateful for your compassion.”
Baby Girl has since found a loving forever home just days after being placed for adoption. The humane society was also in contact with her previous owner, who is over the moon that her dog is in a safe, loving place now.
