A photo posted on social media of a dog sitting next to his former owner’s hospital bed helped him find his new forever home.
Named Moose, the 3-year-old Labrador mix, was photographed next to an empty hospital bed, unbeknownst to him that his owner would not be returning to it.
Related: After Being Left With a Heartbreaking Note, a Dog Is Given a Second Chance
“Moose sat patiently next to his dad’s hospital bed, waiting for him to return, not knowing that “Dad” had passed away,” the shelter wrote. “Poor Moose has now been returned to Eleventh Hour Rescue and he’s taking the loss of his dad pretty hard.”
Moose was found tied to a railroad sign in Georgia in 2017. He sat in a shelter for a few months with no one showing any interest. To avoid being euthanized, he was taken in Eleventh Hour Rescue, located in New Jersey, where he hoped to find a place to call home.
“One day, his ‘dad’ discovered him and they fell in love,” the shelter wrote on Facebook.
Related: Dog Gets Adopted After Heartbreaking Note Before Owner’s Suicide
Unfortunately, their time together was short. His dad was diagnosed with cancer and passed away last week.
Like many rescues, Eleventh Hour Rescue took him back into its community.
“Eleventh Hour Rescue’s adoption policy is that if an adopter cannot keep one of our dogs for any reason, the dog must come back to us, and so Moose did just that,” it wrote. “No matter how crowded we are, we always make room for one of our own. One of our mottoes is ‘once an Eleventh Hour dog, always an Eleventh Hour dog.'”
After Eleventh Hour Rescue, along with NorthStar Pet Rescue posted the photo of Moose on Facebook, it went viral, being shared thousands of time.
It also helped him get adopted.
“MOOSE HAS BEEN ADOPTED by a wonderful family who will care for and love him for the rest of his life!” Eleventh Hour Rescue announced on Facebook
Keep in mind, there are a lot of Mooses out there. Please consider adopting your next dog.