We are often told over and over again to have our dogs microchipped- and for a very good reason. Dogs are often found wandering around by themselves, and if there isn’t any type of identifying information to say who they belong to, it is usually impossible to know who the owner is.
If the dog is picked up and taken to a shelter where no one claims him or her, there is also a risk that they will be put to sleep after a certain period of time.
This was almost the case for a beautiful pit bull who was taken into a shelter after being found outside. This grey and white senior pit bull, named Hank, was staying in a small animal shelter. The West Palm Beach staff were working hard to make him more adoptable, even giving him socialization courses, but it wasn’t working.
That is because not only are pit bulls harder to adopt out, senior dogs are also at the bottom of the list when it comes to adoption.
Finally, the shelter had to make a difficult decision. They were about to put him down when a man showed up at the shelter. As soon as he saw Hank, he began to cry. The man, Barry Gearhart, made a video in which he showed viewers who had turned up.
Hank, who is actually named Titan, was Gearhart’s beloved dog that he had raised from a puppy. He had been stolen out of his truck over a year ago. Since then, Gearhart had been on the lookout for his wonderful companion, with no luck.
He had posted a few photos of the dog to a local group in the hopes that someone would recognize him. Luckily, someone did. A woman commented that Titan looked very similar to another pit bull at a local shelter. Gearhart wasted no time in heading there.
Titan and his owner were reunited on January 3, 2016 after being apart for over a year. While Titan was older and dealing with some major health issues, we are happy he was able to live out the rest of his life with the man who never gave up hope. You can watch the wonderful video here: