An animal shelter has shared the heartwarming story of one of their longest-term residents, who waited more than 1,350 days to get adopted.
Coco was a cherished addition to the Main Line Animal Rescue (MLAR) in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, after he was surrendered by his former owners in 2019. Since then, it has been a long wait for the pit-bull mix, who was often overlooked due to his shy temperament.
Staff at the MLAR remained optimistic that Coco would find a loving home one day. Kimberly Cary told Newsweek that their job "is to never lose hope for the animals" in their care.
"He was surrendered because the owners moved and had no space inside their home, so he was being crated in their garage," Cary added.
Unfortunately, many owners are forced to give up their pets to shelters, as shown by the Pet Owner Surrender Analysis. The data, which looked at over 1 million dog and cat surrenders across 2018 to 2020, found that the most-common reason was due to having too many animals.
More than 14 percent of dog surrenders were a result of housing complications, while 10 percent cited the dog's behavior or personality.
Despite receiving occasional interest in the four years he was at the shelter, Coco's timid nature made it difficult for him to build a bond with new people. It would take him several meetings with a prospective owner before feeling comfortable with them, which put many people off moving forward.
"Coco would receive interest occasionally, but he was very shy meeting new people," Cary said. "When people learned it would require multiple meetings to build a bond with him, they did not want to move forward with him, unfortunately.
"People that came to adopt would pass him by when hearing that they would have to come back to meet him a few times," Cary added. "We always keep the hope that someone will walk through the doors and choose one of our long-term residents. Where there is life, there is always hope."
Fortunately, after four years of waiting, a woman came in asking to meet the dog "that needed help the most," and Coco instantly sprang to mind. She was patient with him and met him on multiple occasions, until he was finally at ease with her and ready to go home.
The shelter shared the incredible news on its Facebook page, adding that "we must never lose the hope." The post was lauded by readers online and received hundreds of responses from people who celebrated Coco's happy ending.
"Coco has gone to an amazing home with a very experienced adopter who immediately fell in love with him and has been extraordinarily dedicated to his success," Cary said. "People are truly elated to hear he has found his happily ever after. He had become a celebrity in his own right around here, and people have been truly celebrating his huge win."
After seeing Coco's success story, staff at the MLAR hope that it will encourage other people to adopt a rescue animal as well. Cary urged them to "pay attention to the long-term residents, the shy dogs, or the older dogs who get overlooked."
Cary added: "If one person believes in them and sees their potential, it could make the world of difference in their lives."
Since the Facebook post was shared on October 4, it has received plenty of attention from people who have marveled at the uplifting update.
One comment reads: "I love this! Way to go Coco, life is all good for you now. Thank you MLAR for always standing by Coco."
Another person responded: "He's so beautiful, I'm so happy for him."
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