Homeless dog hugging discarded stuffed Teddy bear goes viral
It breaks my heart every time I saw a poor animals on the street, searching for foods or place they can stay even for a while. But this photo that goes viral makes me more sadder. It feels like the dog really wants someone to comfort him but he only have this dirty teddy bear.
Yvette Holzbach is the girl behind the heartbreaking photo of the dog. She posted it on her facebook page with a caption:
“When I first saw this dog lying on this tattered and torn soft toy my first reaction was ‘oh how cute is that’,” she says on Facebook. “But then reality really sunk in once I started taking the picture. Here is a stray dog taking comfort in a worn out, discarded toy. How many of the dogs that we see are also thrown out on the street once they have served their purpose?”
“I took this picture a few months back. To be honest, today is the first time I have gone back to look at the picture. It was truly one of the saddest sights I have seen in the 5th Ward.”
After posting it there was a criticism. People are asking instead of taking a photo why she didn’t rescue the dog?
Holzbach explains that she didn’t rescue the dog that day because they didn’t have the space or the fosters. She is also from the group called ‘Forgotten Dogs Of The Fifth Ward’ she explained that they can only feed up to 50 dogs everyday, and for those 50 dogs they are happy if they can save one because there are not enough shelter.
“As one of the feeders we are always faced with the dilemma of deciding which dog to send out a plea of help for,” she writes. “This dog absolutely broke my heart but it a dog that was in relatively good shape and unfortunately, the sad truth is, a dog in this condition would be much harder to find a foster for than any others we find in worse shape. We can feed up to 50 dogs in one day. Out of those, we are lucky if we rescue just one because fosters are so hard to come by.”
After seeing the dog’s picture again, she knew she wanted to go back and look for him, even though he’s just one of thousands of dogs that she sees every year. And in able for people to understand her and what they are facing she wants those people to come with them. Peoples will be surprise on how many stray dogs there are. There are so many stray dogs in Southern California.
“Some of the dogs we rescue are in such bad shape that we have no other option but to put them to sleep,” says Holzbach. “Our only comfort at times like that is the fact that the dog did not die alone on the street.”
Forgotten Dogs of the 5th Ward Project has been rescuing dogs for the last 4 years and has saved close to 1000 dogs off the streets. They go out every week to feed the strays and rescue as many as they can.
As for the dog in the heartbreaking photo, she hasn’t found him yet. But Holzbach and others from Forgotten Dogs are out looking for him. Hoping that their shelter will get bigger soon so they can adopt more and give assistance to those homeless animals.
“It is the hardest thing in the world for us to leave dogs like his behind so please don’t judge us. We are a small group of volunteers who are just trying to do the very best we can with what we have,” Holzbach writes
Yes! There are so many stray dogs in Southern California. Hoping that their shelter will get bigger soon so they can adopt more and give assistance to those homeless animals.