Hearts are breaking over the look on a dog’s face as he sits in a kennel at an animal shelter after being surrendered by his owner.
Scooby, a 4-year-old Doberman pinscher, was recently surrendered to the Benton Franklin Humane Society, which is in Kennewick, Washington. The reason was that he was “too loud” for the owner’s neighbors. Now, he’s adjusting to his new environment.
On September 8, TikTok user @villapurlah posted a clip about Scooby. Devastated, viewers immediately flocked to his story, and by Friday the clip had over 5.9 million views. Scooby spent most of his time “outside chained” in the fresh air. But now he is confined to an animal shelter kennel for 23 hours a day.
In the clip, Scooby is resting on his little bed. He’s hunched over with his head down. Upset, he holds a blanket in his mouth to comfort himself in the loud environment. He never lifted his head to see who was looking at him. His spirit was crushed after his world was turned upside down.
Screenshots from a TikTok video show a sad 4-year-old Doberman pincher that was surrendered to a shelter for being “too loud.”
@villapurlah/TikTok
TikTok users couldn’t stand seeing Scooby so upset. They flooded the video with over 708,000 views and 18,100 comments, hoping his future family would see the post.
“Dobermans are extremely attached to their family, this is heartbreaking to see. I hope he/she finds a loving home,” said one viewer. A second commented: “I could never ‘surrender’ my dog! they are members of the family…train them don’t abandon them!”
Another wrote: “Him suckling the blanket is so so sad.”
A follow-up video said that three separate families expressed interest in adopting Scooby, and some went to meet him last week. The TikTok user asked people to cross their fingers in hopes that one will give Scooby a new home.
Newsweek reached out to @villapurlah via TikTok for additional information.
U.S. Shelter Numbers
Each year, 6.3 million pets enter U.S. shelters, which is an average of 17,260 a day, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The number of dogs and cats taken in by pet shelters hit 46,807 during January 2023, an increase of 1,744, compared with January 2022, 24Petwatch’s Shelter Watch Report found.
Around 920,000 surrendered animals are euthanized every year. Shelters are striving to minimize euthanasia rates by promoting adoption campaigns, spaying and neutering programs and behavior rehabilitation.
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