Stormy is wonderful with kids. He’s well socialized and likes dogs and cats. But when his family welcomed their fifth child, Stormy was handed over to a Brooklyn shelter.
“If look on his face doesn’t say it all – he misses his family terribly and he has no idea what happened to them! His Mom felt he should not be around the new baby even though he has always been gentle, playful and affectionate with the 4 children he lived with,” Julie Carer wrote on Facebook.
“He is also playful and affectionate with big and small dogs. He is also respectful around a cat he spent time with. Freshy [now named Stormy] even loves to be hugged and held! And, to think his life could end shortly is really just too heartbreaking,” she continued.
Being a Pit Bull, at a busy shelter, his odds of finding a new home were not great. In fact they were nearly impossible – he was scheduled to be euthanized within a few hours of coming to the attention of Eleventh Hour Rescue, who saw the post from a volunteer who described what it was like meeting Stormy (previously named Freshy) at the shelter:
“I always have to wash my hands after walking a dog, but with Freshy I had to rinse my whole arm! Freshy is so loving he practically gave my arms a bath, and when he wasn’t busy licking me, he’d lean in to my legs begging for back scratches.”
Julie Carer
“Freshy is a handsome guy, who’s even caught the attention of staff members: upon seeing Freshy, staff came to the yard to visit with him and expressed his admiration for the big happy guy! He sure is hard not to love!”
“Freshy’s former owners had nothing but good things to say about him, too. Freshy has spent time with dogs big and small and loves them all, he’s respectful of cats and has lived with kids of all ages.
“Freshy loves to be hugged and held, enjoys slow walks around the neighborhood and his favorite games include fetch and tug. When it comes to things you’d look for in a dog, Freshy seems to check all the boxes. The only empty box he has is a happy, loving home. Could it be yours?”
When Alana Guerrini, a volunteer and foster carer for Eleventh Hour Rescue, saw his profile her heart broke.
“He spent all of his life with a family with four children, two [other] dogs — one small, one big — and a cat,” Guerrini told The Dodo. “Then the woman got pregnant and had her fifth baby, and decided that he was too much.”
She knew Stormy was special, and raced to save his life, which she did with just minutes to spare.
“He was due to be put down at 5 o’clock, and it was 4:58 or 4:59 when we got the word that ‘We’ll let you take him, and he’s officially yours and off of death row,’” Guerrini said.
She and her son went to pick him up and take him home. From the moment Stormy stepped into her car, he showed how happy and loving he is. He climbed into her son’s lap and wouldn’t stop wagging his tail.
Having observed him playing and interacting with her son, Guerrini finds it hard to believe Stormy’s family gave him up, calling him “an angel”.
Now that he’s safe, Guerrini plans on finding him the perfect family. “I do have to say because he is one of my favorites that I’m very picky, so I need to find the best home out there.”
To find out more about how to adopt Stormy, visit Eleventh Hour Rescue.
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