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By Liz O'Connell
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A shelter dog that was brought in during last summer's Hurricane Idalia has finally received his happy ending after his hope was diminishing.
Sammy the pit bull was evacuated when Hurricane Idalia, a Category 4 storm, hit the Southeastern part of the United States at the end of August, causing significant damage to Florida and other coastal states.
The dog was brought to the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League in West Palm Beach, Florida, following the disaster evacuation. His eyes were full of hope as he held on to a toy and wagged his tail. But as time went on that excitement and longing for a new life started to fade, which unfortunately happens frequently with animals that live in shelters for an extended period.
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The rescue league shared how Sammy started to lose hope after living in the shelter for 142 days. Viewers can see in the January 25 TikTok video, which was posted to the account @peggyadamsarl, how Sammy's attitude did a complete 180.
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His hopeful eyes turned into big, brown eyes full of sadness, and his entire demeanor shifted. But thankfully, after the rescue league shared his story on TikTok, an adopter stepped forward. Now, Sammy is living his best life in his forever home.
Viewers flooded the comments section to boost Sammy's story. Once again, the power of social media worked. The video had 943,000 views, 88,800 likes and 3,051 comments as of Monday.
"I hope he has a fun and amazing life...," said one viewer. Another added: "I'm so glad he got adopted. What a love bug."
The rescue league said in a follow-up video that Sammy might have been in the shelter for so long because of breed discrimination. Also, pit bulls and large dog breeds are excluded from many rental and homeowner association properties in South Florida.
But viewers are rushing to defend pit bulls despite their negative reputation. "Pits are the best. My 95-pound buddy is great with kids," said one.
Newsweek reached out to the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League via email for additional information.
U.S. Shelter Numbers
Each year, 6.3 million pets enter U.S. shelters, at an average of 17,260 a day, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The number of dogs and cats taken in by pet shelters hit 46,807 during January 2023, an increase of 1,744 compared with January 2022, 24Petwatch's Shelter Watch Report found.
Around 920,000 surrendered animals are euthanized every year. Shelters are trying to minimize euthanasia rates by promoting adoption campaigns, spaying and neutering programs and behavior rehabilitation.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
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