Used to the shelter's usual barking, the young woman initially thought the sound was coming from birds.
But a few seconds later, the sound came again...
A heartwarming scene
This time, she recognised the distinctive squeak of a dog toy. Cassondra wondered who could possibly be playing at this time of day, when everything seemed quiet. Driven by curiosity, she headed back towards the kennels.
When she reached one of the enclosures, she discovered a scene that immediately made her smile. Kekoa, a particularly anxious young dog, was joyfully tossing a squeaky toy into the air before pouncing to catch it. The sight was almost unbelievable, as just a few days earlier, no one would have imagined him behaving like this.
A tough start in life
It has to be said that Kekoa has had a tough start in life. As a small puppy, he was first abandoned in a crate outside the shelter in 2024. He was then adopted when he was just six months old. Sadly, two years later, his owners were unfortunately no longer able to care for him and brought him back to the shelter.
Since his return, Kekoa has been very stressed and withdrawn, and has struggled to find his feet. So, seeing him play in his kennel with his squeaky toy, Cassondra was moved to tears. When one of his toys got stuck under his bed, she went into the enclosure to give it back to him, and the two of them played together for a little while.
After this happy interlude, Kekoa calmly settled into his bed for the night. For Cassondra, this moment was proof that despite the abandonments and the stress of the shelter, the young dog hadn't lost his spark. The rescuers wholeheartedly hope that this lovely dog finds his forever home as soon as possible, and so do we!