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An animal shelter volunteer chronicled the dramatic transformation a nervous rescue pit bull underwent after she treated him to a special day out.
Emile Azevedo told Newsweek she has always had a "soft spot for pit bulls."
"Pit bulls make up the majority of our dogs at the shelter, and that's generally the rule for all shelters," Azevedo said. "They also are the ones who have the hardest time getting adopted because of the misinformation and unfair stereotypes surrounding this breed."
Speaking to PetMD, Haylee Heisel, canine behavior consultant at Best Friends Animal Society, said that while a number of factors contribute to the high number of pit bulls in animal shelters.
"The main ones to highlight are the difficulty that families have with insurance, housing restrictions, and of course, breed-specific legislation," Heisel said.
That's relevant to Azevedo, who said that many rental properties have policies that don't allow so-called "aggressive breeds" like pit bulls, which is part of the reason she doesn't own one. "It's a sad and unfair reality," she said.
Yet, perhaps if she did own her own pit bull, she might never have met Goose and she might never have gone on to change his life in the way she has.
It's a change she chronicled in a recent TikTok video posted under the handle azevedoem. In the clip, which has been watched over 500,000 times already, Azevedo recalled scrolling through the shelter website and coming across Goose.
His picture was not the best, so Azevedo decided to make it her mission to take a better one. But when she got to his kennel, she soon realized he needed more than just a new photo.
"When I met Goose, he was shaking in the corner of his kennel," she said. "I looked at his exercise log and saw that other volunteers noted that he was very scared and that they were unable to get him out of his kennel for a walk."
Having concluded that he was in "desperate need of a break from the kennel," Azevedo took it upon herself to treat Goose to a special day out.
"I decided that I was going to get that dog out, no matter how long it was going to take," she said.
Amazingly, Goose responded.
"He deserved a chance, and I'm so glad he trusted me to give him that chance," she said.
She treated him to a bath, followed by a pup cup and a walk together.
Then something amazing happened: his tail began to wag. Soon, he was out enjoying the sunshine while Azevedo showered him with doggy treats and affection.
The plan worked to perfection and Azevedo knew it.
"After a whole day with him away from the kennel, like many dogs, he showed his true personality—and it is beautiful," she said.
She made him a new kennel flier and was putting together plans for a possible staycation with her new canine pal a few days later when something even more amazing happened—Goose got adopted.
It capped off an already-remarkable turnaround, with Azevedo posting Goose's story to social media as proof that "love saves."
"Watch the progress we made with this terrified shelter pup by just showing him a little bit of love and compassion for a day," she wrote. "Please give a shelter pup a chance."
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
About the writer
Jack Beresford is a Newsweek Senior Internet Culture & Trends Reporter, based in London, UK. His focus is reporting on ... Read more