Shana Cletcher was scrolling through social media on a recent evening, when she stumbled upon an emotional video about a senior rescue dog named Achilles.
The TikTok showed a 12-year-old German Shepherd living in a shelter in Atlanta. When a volunteer took him out for a walk, it was clear the dog was frantically searching for his owner in the parking lot. He went from car to car.
“He wanted to go home,” the video caption read. “Please help me find Achilles a home before it’s too late.”
Please help us save senior Achilles 12 years old, gentle, sweet He knows sit, stay, shake. He’s perfect and just needs a home. If you can’t help him please engage with this reel and share so he can be seen in time by someone who can save him. Fulton County Animal Services Atlanta More info in our app [LINK IN BIO] #Germanshepherd #gsd #fyp #urgent #seniordog
“It was so heartbreaking,” said Cletcher, who lives in Blount County, Alabama. “If I could save them all, I would.”
Cletcher — who lives with her 13-year-old son, Evan, and their rescue dog, Lola — couldn’t get the sad-eyed pup off her mind. She posted about him on Threads.
“I need someone to talk me out of driving to Atlanta to adopt a senior dog this weekend on euthanasia row,” she wrote, mostly in jest. Although she was tempted, she didn’t consider it a serious plan.
Cletcher did not expect much of a response, given she has only a few hundred followers. But the next morning, there were thousands of comments and photos of happy senior rescue dogs. Rather than talking her out of it, people were passionately persuading her to go pick up the dog.
“Save him! He’ll save you back!” one person commented, and included a photo of a dog snuggled on a bed.
“Please do it. I just had to say farewell to my dog 2 hours ago. I’m devastated. Her name was Darby. Please do it in her honor,” someone else wrote.
The many adorable and heart-tugging dog photos that followed included a dog named Jack with a distinct underbite.
“Meet Winnie, super senior. She was rescued but was without hope and not doing well in the shelter,” someone commented with a photo of a stout dog with floppy ears. “She wouldn’t eat or let anyone touch her. Thank god for foster families, she got pulled at the last minute and became mine!”
Abbey Ramsay of Albany, New York, came across the post, and commented with a photo of her 11-year-old pit bull terrier, Hamilton, 11, whom she rescued in 2020 and described as “the most handsome dog in the world.”
“He was attacked by other dogs daily in the first half of his life,” Ramsay commented. “Now he is a pampered boy who has the biggest heart.”
Ramsay, a single mother of two children, said adopting Hamilton transformed her life.
“He’s changed everything for us; he is a member of our family,” Ramsay told The Washington Post. “If I could rescue a million of them, I would. They all deserve a home.”
Ramsay noticed something about Cletcher’s post: “There wasn’t a single person who said, ‘Don’t do this. This is a bad idea,’” Ramsay said. “Everybody supported this person going and getting this dog and giving it the best last few years of its life.”
Kara Vanderkooi in St. Paul, Minnesota, also decided to share about her late senior rescue dog, Waylon.
“We rescued this old man who lived 2.5 great years of kindness, love, and treats,” she commented. “He was worth the drive and his gratefulness was palpable. We miss our old man Waylon. Best decision ever.”
Vanderkooi adopted Waylon in 2022, when he was 10; he died a year ago October. Seeing the string of photos and stories moved her.
“It’s so heartwarming to know there are people out there that do make the decision to adopt elder dogs,” she said. “I was hoping she would go for it because I didn’t think she would regret it; they have such an impact on your life.”
Cletcher was stunned by the response to what had been a spontaneous late-night thought.
“I am just super blown away,” Cletcher said. “I didn’t expect thousands and thousands of people to just show up and share pictures of their animals. … I’m so overwhelmed and honored and humbled.”
Even before reading the comments, she said, she was feeling a pull to go pick up Achilles and take him home.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about this one German shepherd,” she said, explaining that the comments confirmed what she had decided.
The morning after making the post, on Nov. 18, she reached out to Fulton County Animal Services in Atlanta and expressed her interest in Achilles. She immediately began the adoption process.
“I was on cloud nine,” Cletcher said, noting that the shelter said she could come pick him up in a few days, after he was neutered. “I hollered on the phone; I cheered.”
Achilles had been found as a stray and was taken to the shelter on Nov. 1. Shelter staff used a microchip to attempt to reach Achilles’ owner but could not get in touch.
“He became a staff favorite pretty quickly because he’s really, really sweet,” said Naomi Lawrence, client services manager at Fulton County Animal Services. She confirmed Achilles was at risk of euthanasia.
Lawrence said German shepherds often struggle in shelters, as they are an active and intelligent breed, and prone to anxiety.
“For any dog, it’s overwhelming to come into a shelter,” Lawrence said, noting that the shelter waives adoption fees for dogs age 7 and older. “These senior dogs should not be living in a shelter for a long time.”
After the TikTok video posted by a volunteer gained attention, Lawrence said, adoption requests for Achilles poured in. Cletcher stood out.
“She sounds like a great, great fit,” Lawrence said.
People on Threads offered Cletcher gas money, plus funds to support the dog. But Cletcher declined.
“I would never adopt a dog if I couldn’t provide financially for him,” said Cletcher, who works at a facility for developmentally challenged adults.
She plans to drive about two and a half hours to Atlanta on Saturday to pick up Achilles and bring him home.
“We cannot wait to meet him,” Cletcher said. “He’s going to be our Christmas gentleman.”
Cletcher said the overwhelming response to her Threads post reminded her of how deeply pets connect people.
“It was miraculous to see all these people show up and give words of positivity and encouragement and explaining how much their furry family members mean to their lives,” she said.
Cletcher said she hopes her story encourages others to consider adopting a senior dog like Achilles.
“I cannot wait to give him all the love these people are sharing,” she said.
The post She asked strangers to talk her out of adopting a dog. They did not. appeared first on Washington Post.
