“I had chills. I saw a few of my colleagues crying.”
Betsy was finally heading out the front door with a new family that was overjoyed to get her after being at the Humane Rescue Alliance for over 200 days.
Betsy didn’t have to be nervous because, as she took one last look around the facility, she noticed an eager mob of rescue staff members cheering her on.
Ashley Valm, the Humane Rescue Alliance’s director of adoptions, told us, “I had chills.” “I noticed a few of my coworkers crying. Everyone was overjoyed to see her return home.”
The emotional scene was captured on video by the rescue team and can be seen here:
Betsy was discovered living alone in the Anacostia district of Southeast D.C. Staff members were captivated by her unashamed affection for humans when she came at the rescue.
“[Betsy] will glance at you and gently lean into you as you pet her,” Valm explained. “She has never met somebody she didn’t like.”
Betsy, on the other hand, didn’t get along as well with the other dogs, and she found the shelter upsetting.
Rescue workers expected nervous Betsy to take a bit longer to find the appropriate home. They did everything they could to make Betsy feel at ease as they waited. They even started inviting her into their areas to get away from the noise.
“She spent a lot of time in our directors’ offices, which she liked because there were no other dogs there,” Valm explained. “All day she would slumber on the office couch and cuddle with our personnel.” She was a doll and a dream to work with.”
The shelter was celebrating Clear the Shelters Day, a nationwide pet adoption effort, when Betsy was eventually adopted. There was a flutter of excitement in the air.
“There was already a party atmosphere,” Valm explained.
As word spread that Betsy was leaving, shelter employees radioed each other on walkie-talkies, begging everyone to come see her go.
They clapped, cheered, and yelled encouraging words as they watched the wonderful dog they’d gotten to know so well leave for her new chapter, knowing that by demonstrating empathy and compassion, they’d played a role in altering her life.
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