12-year-old dog heartbroken after being surrendered by his elderly owner — finds his forever home

Imagine spending your entire life in a loving home, only to be surrendered to a rescue during your twilight years. Well, that's exactly what happened with Zebadee, a 12-year-old senior dog who can barely hear or see anymore. However, unlike some cold-hearted, cruel owners who abandon their dogs for trivial reasons, Zebadee's owner had to make the heartbreaking decision, as the 92-year-old lady could no longer take care of her fur baby. Through a heartfelt post on social media, Many Tears Animal Rescue(@manytearsrescue on Instagram), a South Wales-based shelter, is now hoping to find a 'perfect retirement home' for Zebadee, who needs nothing more than a little love.

"He would love a quiet home where he has plenty of places to snooze, a nice garden for him to plod around in, and some gentle walks every so often so he can get some good sniffs in," the rescue wrote, talking about the elderly dog's humble, minimalistic nature. Moving on, the animal shelter shared that Zebadee can be adopted as a solo dog or be placed with other calm canines, and they're more than happy to help potential owners with compatibility testing. "Zebadee is breaking all of our hearts, and walking past his kennel is truly soul-destroying. No dog deserves to live at a rescue, but for one that is 12 years old and has only ever known a home and love, it really is the worst possible place," they added, urging kind people to offer Zebadee a second chance at life.

As per an astonishing study by the National Library of Medicine, in Denmark, most cats (74%) and dogs (75%), between 1996 to 2017, were relinquished to shelters because of their owner-related issues, just like Zebadee. Besides owner-related issues, adequate housing was also listed as a major factor for pet abandonment.  Meanwhile, echoing the sentiments of Zebadee's story, @littlelegsdogs commented, "This is where family should step up; I can’t imagine letting a family dog go into rescue when he’s in his golden years." Similarly, another user who goes by @bannedbreed.koko on Instagram wrote, "Switch it around. Imagine being that 92-year-old and your grown children don't respect you enough to help with the dog you have loved for 12 years. Shame on them!"

@gillian.h9 confessed, "This has literally brought tears to my eyes. If I didn’t work, I’d have him in a heartbeat. I’d never want to leave him alone for fear of his feeling abandoned. I hope and pray he’ll find his forever home very soon." On the other hand, @melaniewilliams1226 revealed, "Oh, bless his little heart. Oh, I’ve cried so much over rescue stories today; it’s heartbreaking how these poor babies end up, though no fault of their own! Poor boy must be wondering what the hell is going on. Oh, I do hope he finds an incredible home to spend the rest of his days." @caitlin.allwood assumed, "Gorgeous boy. His owner must have been absolutely devastated to let him go." Fortunately, after the post went viral, Newsweek claimed that Zebadee was adopted. "He got reserved the very next day after the post, so yes, it worked instantly! He received over 30 applications from the post alone," an unnamed spokesperson revealed.

You can follow Many Tears Animal Rescue (@manytearsrescue) on Instagram for more shelter dog-related stories.