Dog Left Crying At Shelter All Smiles After Finding Forever Home

NORTH FORK, NY — It's the happiest of endings as a senior shelter dog, once crying after being left alone, is now all smiles: Cookie has found her forever home.

According to Gabrielle Stroup of the North Fork Animal Welfare League, a woman named Latoya learned about Cookie's need for a final forever family in a Patch post.

"You don't know how long you have but however long you have, you need love," Latoya said.

Cookie cried constantly after her owner died and her best friend, another senior dog, found a forever family. And for awhile, it seemed there was no place for sweet Cookie to call her own. "We have gotten tons of interest but still no home," said Stroup Friday.

The story of Cookie touched hearts across the country.

Since the Patch posts, hundreds of calls and emails have poured in, Stroup said last week.

"The phone has been ringing off the hook," she said. "We're getting calls from Iowa. This has gone viral!"

Last week, Stroup gave an update on the outpouring of love for Cookie: "We are getting a lot of interest and will be accepting applications for the next couple days. Then we will pick the perfect home for her. Anyone interested should come visit her at the shelter in the next few days and get an application in. For applicants who have other dogs, we will set up meet and greets mid week."
She added, "I just want to make sure we get her the perfect match — one that will last forever.

A recent Patch post about two senior shelter dogs crying after losing their families touched hearts.

And it was the most beautiful of homecomings after one of the dogs, Sox, was reunited with her owner after the Patch post brought them back together.

"Poor Cookie still needs a forever home. She just cries here," said Stroup.

While Cookie has a foster home, she can only stay there on certain days of the week. "When Cookie comes back she is even sadder," she said. "We need either a forever foster for this sweet senior or an adopter."

Cookie, she said, loves car rides, is house trained, walks well on a leash, and has lived with a cat. She'd do well, Stroup said, "in a nice quiet house with lots of love."

Cookie first came into the shelter in 2016. "She was skin and bones," said Stroup. "She was quickly adopted and lived the next three years with her new dad. He passed away, and almost three years to the day of being adopted — she ended up back in the shelter."

Cookie's heart is broken, Stroup said.

"She has not stopped crying since she was dropped off at the shelter," she said. "Now at 10 years old this poor girl is not adapting well to shelter life."

Sox, an 8-year old female, was "a frequent flyer at the shelter," Stroup said, until a Patch post about senior shelter was the key to Sox' family finding their beloved dog again.

Donny Oliver, Sox' owner, explained how he found his way back to his four-footed friend. A friend's dog had puppies around Thanksgiving in 2009, he said. "He couldn't take care of them so a few of us went over to get them and bring them to the shelter," he said. "When I carried Sox, she curled up in my arms so I put her in my car. As soon as I got in the car she curled up in my lap. I brought her home instead."

His children, he said, grew up with Sox. "They would play on her, lay on her, pull on her, and she would just roll over and let them."

However, Sox was a dog that got stressed easily, and was always a wanderer, he said. One night, he said, she ran away.

Oliver said since the say he found out she'd run off, he checked the North Fork Animal Welfare League's page to see if she'd been found, and never saw her.

Then, he said, "I was forwarded a post from Patch and cried. We were in the process of getting a house so once we moved in and got settled, I came and got her. Our dogs are our children — as it should be," he said. "Sox has been through enough the last few years. She deserves to live out her years loved by family."

He added: "I cannot say enough about the NFAWL. They loved and treated Sox the way pets should be treated — above and beyond. Such an amazing group of people there. I can't express my gratitude enough. My fiancé and I are so happy to have my puppy here. And Sox is just living it up."