Two dogs were spotted refusing to move as their owners dropped them off ‘like trash’ at an animal shelter.
Ann Flores spotted the heartbreaking scene outside Harris County Animal Shelter in Houston, Texas, as a 3-year-old dog flopped to the ground, seeming to protest being taken to the shelter.
Flores photographed the two women, who she claims were laughing as they took the traumatised dogs, a brother and sister named Truman and Mandi, to be potentially put down.
Flores told The Dodo:
He laid on his back and just rolled over. It was like he was saying, ‘Please don’t take me in here.’
They were both pulling, but the dogs wouldn’t budge. They had to pick them up because they just would not move. They would not walk in there.
They didn’t care. They were just laughing and giggling because the dogs wouldn’t move. To them, it was just like throwing trash away. There was no remorse, nothing.
Both dogs were in bad condition with heartworms and other issues including Mandi suffering mange over most of her body, as well as a painful eye infection.
After the two pups, Truman and Mandi, were dumped, the shelter staff had just a few days to find them new owners before the overcrowded shelter would have to put them down.
Flores sent the pictures to Harris County Animal Volunteers, who later shared this video:
Thankfully, after public outcry from locals, the shelter was able to re-home Truman and Mandi before they were euthanised
Flores said:
I was really, really angry, and I could feel my blood pressure rise. Why get an animal if you’re not going to keep it and do this to them? It’s not fair.
After all, dogs deserve the best, because they are awesome:
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Kellie Donoghue, director of Grace Mercy Love German Shepherd Rescue, went to pick Truman up from the shelter on Monday.
She told The Dodo:
First I heard him howling. We tried to get him to walk, but he just pancaked flat on the floor and wouldn’t move.
He was so terrified and he was peeing. But he was wagging his tail the whole time, which tells me that this dog just needs love, but doesn’t understand that humans can provide love.
The whole time in the car, he just wanted to be near me. He was starting to warm up to me a bit in a 25-minute car ride, which you don’t often see. Sometimes it takes a really long time for dogs to open up to humans.
In just an hour, we saw a fantastic transformation of a dog who wouldn’t even walk and being flat on the ground and shaking, to feeling safe enough to sleep in the car and get close to me. He’s going to be just a fantastic dog to live with.
For more great dog videos, watch UNILAD‘s cute compilation:
Truman is now living with his foster mom Christina Caballero and her other dog and three cats. Mandi left the shelter the day after her brother, and she’s now living with her foster mom, Jackie Duncan.
Let’s hope Truman and Mandi are able to heal and enjoy the Dogs’ Best Friends they deserve.
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A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.