Houston has a surprisingly big problem with stray animals, dogs in particular. The group has rescued over 864 dogs from the 5th Ward alone since their they started a few years ago.
The dogs they manage to take off the streets are able to find truly loving forever homes, where they can live happy lives. No more sleeping on the street and running through the cold rain starving for those dogs.
They’re also very particular about what kind of homes the dogs go to, to make sure they live happy lives with a loving family.
This story is about when a volunteer found a homeless dog and the amazing photograph she took. The picture managed to summarize a problem that is very real for far too many dogs. Living outside, homeless, cold and lonely. The photograph went viral as fellow animal lovers were heartbroken by the image.
This photograph touched the hearts of many animal lovers. A dog sleeping with a dirty but still comfy stuffed teddy bear. The dog appears to be almost cuddling with it as it sleeps.
For the volunteers of Forgotten Dogs of the 5th Ward, this is sadly a common occurrence of seeing dogs sleeping outside cold and lonely. At the time the volunteers were out feeding the strays and catching a few so that they could take them to the rescue center where they would eventually find a forever home.
That’s when a volunteer saw this dog sleeping and decided to snap a picture. She knew that it would hit the hearts of many animal lovers to see the problem in such a strong way.
Sadly , because their van was already full of dogs ready to be taken to the rescue center, they weren’t able to catch the dog. So, they decided to quickly drop off the dogs and come back to rescue the sleeping dog when they came back.
Unfortunately, when they returned the dog had already disappeared along with the stuffed animal.
But the volunteers did meet Calvin, an 89-year-old man who lived in the area. Calvin told the volunteers that he owned the dog, but the dog always managed to get loose and ended up living in the streets again. He has been unsuccessful at finding the dog again.
Calvin has also been trying his best to help wild dogs in the 5th Ward himself. Feeding and caring for the dogs that stopped by. Sadly this dog managed to escape and run away and he’s been searching ever since.
The volunteers offered to help Calvin with vet costs, including neutering his dogs. Calvin was very thankful for the help. Heartwarming to see animal lovers working together!
It’s unfortunate that at the moment this story doesn’t have a happy ending, but the volunteers are continuing to work and find the sleeping dog as well as any other homeless dogs and find them the forever homes they deserve.
The dog featured in the photograph is sadly one of many thousands and nonprofit groups will continue to work to make sure that one day all dogs will be able to find their forever homes.
