For the past seven years, a sweet pit bull mix named Ella waited by her kennel door to greet staff members at the no-kill animal shelter, Animal Resource Center.
While she was showered with love by staff, they anxiously waited for a call, email, or someone to show up to adopt Ella, their longest resident. As the years passed, they never gave up hope that her special someone would come along.
One day the shelter manager opened her email and saw the subject line she had been waiting for, “Interested in adopting Ella”.
The woman named Kaitlyn said she lost her beloved dog Jo a few months ago and felt she was ready to adopt another. A meeting was set up and what happened next will bring tears to your eyes.
The shelter shared on Facebook, “When Ella first saw Kaitlyn, we think she already knew, that this is MY person. Ella is a dog that has fear aggression and needs multiple visits for her to get comfortable with you- Not with Kaitlyn, it’s like Ella picked HER. She immediately walked over to Kaitlyn with no hesitation, allowing her to give Ella scratches and pets right away.”
As if that wasn’t enough of a sign that the two were meant to be together, Kaitlyn received another sign. “During the end of the showing, staff noticed Kaitlyn was getting teary eyed and kept looking down by Ella’s neck. She looked up at staff, pulling up a picture of her dog, Jo wearing a bandana and said ‘This bandana that Ella is wearing, it’s Jo’s. I donated them all here when he passed’. Tears now filling staff’s eyes as well- out of the 20 dogs in our shelter right now, this bandana. This specific bandana. Jo’s bandana. It was on Ella. Kaitlyn said it best by saying ‘I like to think of it as Jo’s stamp of approval’ knowing it was meant to be.”
Ella has found a forever home after seven years, and it was worth the wait.
Staff members will miss her adorable face greeting them in the morning but are beyond happy that she is finally home. “We’ll miss that tomorrow, it’ll be such a bittersweet moment realizing that as we pause to reflect on a few of our favorites times with Ella- but my goodness the amount of pure happiness we will feel everyday knowing Ella finally got what she deserved: ELLA GOT ADOPTED.”
There are so many dogs like Ella patiently waiting for someone to give them a second chance. Check out all the adoptable dogs at Animal Resource Center and please adopt don’t shop!