Earlier last March, Portland, Oregon resident Joey Martin, stayed at a hotel in Auburn, Washington to visit the Olympic National Park with his German Shepherd, Max. However, he unexpectedly had a personal medical emergency and needed to get admitted to a local hospital.
Because of this, Joey had to leave his hotel room without notice, unintentionally abandoning his beloved pup. Fortunately, someone reached out to the Auburn Valley Humane Society, a local animal welfare organization, to report Max’s situation.
The humane society staff wasn’t aware of Joey’s story, though, so they brought the pup back to the shelter with them. As soon as Max arrived at the facility, the staff checked him for a microchip right away. They, fortunately, saw one on him, but the contact details weren’t updated, leaving them with a dead end.
Phil Morgan, the CEO and president of the humane society, shared how they spent three days trying to get in touch with Max’s owner but to no avail. That was when they decided to put the pup on the adoption floor. In less than a week, the German Shepherd went off to a new home.
The news devastated Joey when he finally got released from the hospital. He couldn’t believe that his beloved dog, who was also his approved emotional support animal, had gone off to a new family. Broken-hearted, he took to social media in hopes of touching the hearts of Max’s new owners.
The response to his post was quite overwhelming, to say the least. Numerous people began sharing his story across the internet, and in the end, the Auburn Valley Humane Society decided to reach out to Max’s adopter and tell him Joey’s story.
Fortunately, the man who took home the pup was very understanding and willingly returned the dog to his rightful owner. The fur dad finally got reunited with his German Shepherd in late March. Watch Max and Joey’s story here.
Courtesy of Q13 FOX Seattle