A dog wound up in a shelter last week, charming the staff – and the world – with his outrageous smile.
Meet Cheech. Cheech wound up in the unhappiest of circumstances – homeless in a dog shelter in Waller, Texas. But you wouldn’t be able to tell, because Cheech can’t stop grinning.
When the dog first arrived at the City of Waller Animal Shelter and Rescue on October 19th, staff reported to shelter director Leah Sipe that they thought he was snarling at them.
But then someone noticed that he wasn’t snarling – he was SMILING.
Even more hilarious than his toothy grin was the fact that he seemed to be able to smile on command!
The shelter posted photos of his grin on Friday with the caption, “Y’all… this smiling dog we got in at the shelter yesterday is ridiculous! #ICantEven.”
The photos of Cheech and his various toothy grins immediately went viral. The original Facebook post garnered over 3,000 reactions and over 7,000 shares.
The world fell in love with the grinning pup, and adoption applications and inquiries started pouring in.
One person even called the local Sheriff’s department trying to adopt Cheech!
The shelter posted, “To the person that called the County Sheriffs Office dispatch trying to adopt the “smiling dog” tonight – I'm excited you're ready to adopt a new family member. However, Law Enforcement is busy tonight, please message the page and we'll review the applications and get back with you after this crazy weekend is over.”
Though tons of people applied to adopt Cheech, one applicant stood out among the rest.
A woman named Carrie reached out, reporting that she’d just endured a heartbreaking loss. One of her dogs had just passed away from cancer the week prior, and her other dog, Daisy, was grieving.
Daisy was so severely depressed over the death of her best friend that she had not eaten in days.
Carrie and Daisy came to the shelter to meet Cheech, and it was an instant connection. According to the shelter’s Facebook post, they hit it off immediately, and Cheech wanted nothing more than to cuddle with Daisy.
It seemed that Cheech was meant for this family, and this family was meant for Cheech. He went home with Carrie and Daisy. The shelter commented, “Nothing but smiles here, ya’ll!”
The shelter still has plenty of other homeless pets, and needs them adopted now more than ever.
The shelter was actually founded by one of the city’s first responders on the police force, and is maintained by other first responders and community volunteers.
The facility is currently in an oil jail, which is under renovation. At this time, all of the shelter’s animals are located in foster homes while the renovations are completed.
This shelter, the first and only no-kill in the area, desperately needs adoptions to occur so they can keep rescuing dogs on death row and other urgent cases.
They are having their grand opening of the renovated facility on November 12th, and are hosting a FREE microchipping clinic for all local residents!
Please share their page and posts, so that social media can keep working to get the word out about homeless pets and get them adopted quickly.
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