There are few things sadder than seeing a precious animal abandoned at a shelter. But what about when it’s three precious animals at once and they’re beautiful, big, lovable Saint Bernards?
In October, the Edmonton Humane Society received three Saint Bernards. They were slightly underweight but otherwise healthy. The shelter doesn’t know where they came from or who their owner was, but they knew instantly that these were some special dogs. From a news release:
“These three gentle giants have won over the hearts of staff and volunteers – even with the excessive drool,” said Jamey Blair, Manager of Animal Health & Protection at EHS. “While their status as bonded pets creates a unique challenge to find a home that can care for all 350 pounds of them, we are confident that there is a family out there who will give these three dogs their second chance.”
The problem with this, besides animal cruelty, is that it’s not easy to find a home for three gentle giants. Furthermore, these dogs, who are named Goliath, Gunther, and Gasket, can’t be separated. They all exhibit extreme anxiety when either of them is gone.
“While friendly and playful, their behaviour assessment showed signs of the trio being bonded with each other, including high levels of anxiety, searching, and attempting to escape in order to find each other when separated. As a result, EHS is requiring that they go to the same home.”
Because of this, the shelter quickly decided that they all had to go to the same home.
“We also wanted to ensure their welfare and given the outcome of their assessment, we could not put them through the stress of being separated,” she added.
An added issue with these big dogs is that they need a large area to run and play and they eat $350 worth of food every month. Sadly, not everyone can handle this, and it’s probably why the owner abandoned them.
The manager of Animal Health & Protection at EHS, said this in a press release.
“These three gentle giants have won over the hearts of staff and volunteers – even with the excessive drool. While their status as bonded pets creates a unique challenge to find a home that can care for all 350 pounds of them, we are confident that there is a family out there who will give these three dogs their second chance.”
But a wonderful thing happened. As often happens in these cases that get a lot of press attention, offers to adopt these precious gentle giants came pouring in from all over the world. After a time, the Humane Society had to stop accepting offers, there were so many. People in Canada, the U.S., and even as far as Australia wanted to adopt Goliath, Gunther, and Gasket.
WOW! Since putting out the call for help to find a forever home for our trio of bonded Saint Bernard dogs, we have…
Posted by Edmonton Humane Society on Wednesday, October 10, 2018
An Edmonton family was chosen as their forever home. In that home, they’ll be well cared for and have a wonderful big yard to run and play in. And they’re all together.
And here’s a bright and happy outcome. Because of the press attention that Goliath, Gunther, and Gasket brought to the Humane Society, there was a surge in the adoption of other pets.
While it’s so heartbreaking to see these sad stories, when they have a happy ending, it warms our hearts. Bless the sweet souls who took in these giant, beautiful dogs.
All images via Facebook