Senior dog gets adopted by 74-year-old grandma after spending 700 days in a shelter

Whenever humans go to pet shelters, they mostly tend to ignore the senior pooches who are up for adoption. Since senior dogs often come with a lot of health issues, it can become a hassle for first-time pet owners after they adopt them. However, one lucky dog who has been living in a pet shelter for over 700 days, was patiently waiting for a kind human to adopt and call him a good boy for the remainder of his life. After a long wait, the senior dog named Beluga finally found a forever home in the loving arms of a 74-year-old grandma named Jeanette.

Beluga was brought to the Austin Pets Alive! shelter in 2022 due to his numerous health issues. Beluga was partially dead and blind, he also had arthritis and some neurological issues. But he quickly won over the shelter staff's hearts with his warm behavior. However, his special needs made him sort of unfit for adoption but his rescuers were not about to give up their hopes of finding Beluga a new home and they opened an Instagram page called @adopt_beluga to increase the pooch's chances of getting adopted. In February 2024, Jeanette, who had lost two of her senior dogs last year, arrived at the shelter to meet another pup whose picture she had seen on the APA website. But Beluga caught the attention of the grandma while wagging his 10-year-old tail.

“He has a neurological issue, so his head kind of tilts to the side, and he looked like, ‘Oh, look at poor, little me.’ So I said, ‘Okay, I have to see him,'” Jeanette said in an interview with PEOPLE. “He was reserved at first, but as soon as he came out with me, he changed." Jeanette was an expert providing care to her previous senior dogs and after the duo bonded for a while, she knew she couldn't leave Beluga behind in the shelter. Beluga traveled to Jeanette's home to get accustomed to the new environment and he even got a new name, "Velcro."

“He’s never more than two feet from my side. That’s why I renamed him Velcro. If I get up, he gets up. Wherever I go, he follows me. If I’m up and moving, he’s up and moving with me,” Jeanette shared. “I’m not that spry myself, but it gives me a reason to get out in the fresh air and walk in the woods. We don’t walk; we stroll." Now, Jeanette hopes that their story will inspire others to adopt senior pets and give them a forever home too. APA also shared a wholesome Instagram post of Velcro and Jeanette running around and enjoying some fun time in the backyard. Velcro, who used to be a shy dog has completely transformed under the care and comfort of Jeanette and has become playful as a pup again.

"They deserve love and they give as much as they get,” she stated. “They respond to love just as well, if not more than younger dogs. Velcro has adopted me and he has chosen me. I hate to see these older dogs passed over." She added, "Velcro is just so happy to be out of that shelter. It's nice for seniors to have a senior dog because you don't have to try and keep up with them. And it's companionship. But adopting an older pet means you will likely have to say goodbye to them sooner than younger ones. "You have to be prepared for that. But if you can handle the loss, the joy of having them is more than worth it."