Ding Dong the dog earned his name through his creative approach to getting rescued.
According to Gateway Pet Guardians — an animal rescue in East St. Louis currently caring for the canine — the dog was saved from a dangerous cold snap after he rang the doorbell of a home in his community.
“Ding Dong showed up at the front door of the home of one of our community members on December 29; he even rang the doorbell!” Alisha Vianello, Gateway Pet Guardian’s executive director, tells PEOPLE.
Footage from Ding Dong’s rescue shows the dog, estimated to be a young adult Akita mix, sniffing around the porch of a home and activating the house’s doorbell. The pooch is greeted by a friendly woman who approaches the dog and offers him treats.
Vianello says the woman who answered the door then took Ding Dong inside “posted him on local Facebook groups looking for his owner and kept him safe.” After receiving no responses to her search for Ding Dong’s owner the next day, the woman brought the dog to Gateway Pet Guardians.
“He seems well loved and cared for. We have searched for an owner, but so far, no one has come forward for him,” Vianello adds.
Ding Dong is among the numerous dogs the rescue has pulled from this season’s frigid weather. A week after Ding Dong’s rescue, a “deadly winter storm” hit St. Louis. In preparation for this extreme weather event, Gateway Pet Guardians collected stray pets stuck outside and provided additional support to owners struggling to care for their animals.
“The extreme cold, ice, and snow makes every stray dog at immediate risk of death, so our incredible team sprung into action to rescue all reported stray dogs in our service area, along with dogs whose owners asked us to take them in when they were not able to provide shelter for them,” Vianello says of how Gateway Pet Guardians prepared for the storm.
The rescue ended up taking in over two dozen dogs ahead of the storm, Ding Dong included. Now, these canines are looking for warm, loving forever homes.
Vianello believes Ding Dong would be “an excellent family pet and could probably fit in with just about anyone.” She describes the clever canine as easy-going, sweet, and a ” happy-go-lucky kind of guy.”
“He doesn’t seem to know a stranger; he just wants to love on people and get attention. He has soft and fluffy fur and loves to snuggle. At the shelter, he has really enjoyed playing with female dogs,” the executive director adds.
Gateway Pet Guardians has dozens of animals, like Ding Dong, looking for forever homes. The rescue also works to serve pets and their owners in different ways.
“Our mission is to keep families together and prevent owned pets from entering an already crowded shelter system by reimagining what animal rescue really means. We believe everyone deserves the love of a pet, regardless of zip code, income, employment status, or housing type. We go above and beyond to ensure equitable access to resources so that no one in our community has to make the impossible choice to give up their beloved pet,” Vianello says.