Dogs Who Are 'Built in Best Friends' Given to Shelter After Owner Got Puppy

A pair of dogs who have grown up as best friends are seeking a new home together after their previous owner surrendered them to a shelter because the family got a new puppy.

Briggs and Sadie, 5-year-old yellow and chocolate Labradors respectively, wound up at Lab Rescue LRCP. It is a non-profit volunteer organization that rescues, fosters, and finds forever homes for abused, neglected, and abandoned Labrador retrievers.

Christine Robertson, who volunteers with Lab Rescue LRCP, told Newsweek that they were originally taken to an animal shelter amid concerns they were playing too rough with their owner's new puppy. "It sounds like they had been with their original owner for their whole lives prior," Robertson said.

To further complicate matters, upon arrival, it was discovered that both dogs had heartworm disease, which, according to Robertson, would be a death sentence in a crowded shelter.

Thankfully, Briggs and Sadie have been able to get the treatment they need at Lab Rescue LRCP and, just as importantly, have been able to stay together. "They certainly seem to be best buds," Robertson said. "They love to be together, but spend most of their time napping and laying around the house. They are very easy-going."

Briggs and Sadie could struggle to find a new home, though, given their age. A 2006 study of 763 shelter dogs published in Anthrozoos found that dogs up to 6 months in age were significantly more likely to be adopted more quickly than older dogs.

Puppies spent an average of 1.4 months in the shelter system. By contrast, most old dogs spent around 6.4 months there. But Briggs and Sadie have something to help them get through all of this: each other.

"Sadie is the more outgoing of the two, and Briggs looks to her. He can't stand to be more than a few feet from her at any given moment, and will whine if she's out of eyesight," Robertson said.

The shelter is determined to find Briggs and Sadie a new forever home for two. " All our pups have been through so much to get to us. We can help lessen the stress by keeping them with their companion," Robertson said.

"Bonded pairs are not as common, generally speaking. But, in the last two months, Lab Rescue has had 11 pairs up for adoption," she added. "These are dogs that have come to us together from the same place and can't bear to be apart from one another. We have even had a dog-and-cat pair that we successfully placed in a home."

The two dogs have garnered plenty of interest, thanks, in part, to a Facebook post by the Lab Rescue LRCP, highlighting the plight of these "built in best friends."

Suitable for any home with children aged 10 and upwards, Briggs and Sadie have already stayed with foster carers who had a small dog themselves. The pair had plenty of admirers on social media who were stunned at what had happened to them.

"So sad and heartbreaking," one user wrote. "Who could abandon this beautiful pair?" Another commented: "This burns me up! How could you live with yourself! Sweet seniors deserve nothing but TLC." A third, meanwhile, added: "Dogs aren't things that can be replaced due to age."

Anyone adopting the pair will need to help them complete their treatment for heartworm, with Lab Rescue LRCP footing the bill for any medications required. "After recovering from their heartworm treatment, they will need an adopter who will provide the exercise and attention they need and want," Robertson said. "But mostly they need a home where they won't ever be given away when a new dog comes to town, a true forever home."

Each year, 6.3 million pets are surrendered to 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 striving to minimize euthanasia rates by promoting adoption campaigns, spaying and neutering programs and behavior rehabilitation.

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