We had an interesting week: On Monday we woke to find a beautiful dog chained to our front gate with a note. The note read, "Hi, my name is Buda. I am a 4-year-old American Staffordshire. My father adopted me 4 years ago and loved me dearly, but he just lost his job and his house and has no way to keep me. Taking me to a shelter would mean being euthanized and I'm so loving and full of life I deserve to live!" The note went on to describe Buda's temperament, that he loves other dogs, that he is really well trained, that his father is a vegan man who supports our cause and is desperate to find a place for his baby boy because he has fallen on hard times and cannot care for him anymore. Our heart broke for this man. We wished he had approached us in person so we could have helped him as well. We also wish we could have asked more questions about Buda and it didn’t have to be so scary for Buda to have been left, scared, cold and afraid. But we imagine that the man left him because he was afraid that we would say no and then he would have no options for Buda.

All our foster homes were full and we had to find Buda a place to stay immediately. So we posted about Buda on Facebook and Twitter and people started responding. We spent the entire day fielding phone calls, pouring over applications, doing phone interviews and home checks. At 9pm that night, we found a wonderful foster home who agreed to take him as a foster and adopt him if he continued to get along with their other dog.

The family loved him right away and by the next morning called to say that they wanted to adopt him as a forever member of their family. Buda is now happy in his new home, adores his new brother and follows his new mom and dad around like he has been theirs his whole life. We are sure he misses his original dad so much and knows they will always be connected in their hearts. We are sending love and well wishes to him, hoping that his load is a little lighter now and he will be blessed and taken care of, wherever he is.