After a sister duo saw a dog’s picture posted in several missing pet pages, they decided to help find him, but what they discovered through his microchip left Reddit users heartbroken.
Chloe Palousek told Newsweek via Reddit messaging that no one was able to get close enough to catch the Australian shepherd roaming the Bell County areas in Central Texas. When she heard about him through multiple social media posts, she grabbed her sister and the two went to search in the town of Killeen.
“We followed him for about five minutes before setting a trap,” she said. “We baited it with Vienna sausages, and within three minutes, he was safely inside.”
Palousek scanned the dog’s microchip before passing along the company information to someone who could contact them to locate the owners. However, that route led them to his original owner, who was currently deployed in Poland until May, she said.
“The owner also shared that Tobias had been rehomed to a random family in a Walmart parking lot,” Palousek said.
Before his deployment, the original owner set Tobias up with a new family, meeting them in a Walmart parking lot to give him away. The thought is that the family had since dumped Tobias, which is why people spotted him wandering around the area.
Palousek believes the family did not care for Tobias, as she could feel every bone in his body while she bathed him.
Palousek shared the story on a subreddit channel r/AustralianShepherd last week in hopes of getting him adopted. Part of the post stated that all the original owner could ask for is for Tobias to have a new loving home. Tobias is currently with TAGG Rescue, awaiting his future.
He was living with a foster family, but will need a new one starting on January 29 for a few days while his current foster goes out of town. But better yet, Tobias needs a forever home.
The Reddit post quickly drew attention, bringing in over 1,800 upvotes and 153 comments, as people shared their heartbreak over the dog’s unfortunate turn of events.
“People don’t deserve dogs. Thank you for helping Tobias,” said one user.
Another commented: “If I had to, there ain’t no way I’m entrusting my dog to a random person in Walmart.”
Hopeful, a third person wrote: “Surely someone good will snatch him right up! He is so beautiful!”
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