Dog Who Wouldn’t Die Has New Home
Thousands applied to adopt him
Portrait of Wall-E, to raise funds for homeless pets, by Ron Burns
Wall-E, the puppy who wouldn’t die, has a new home.
Three months ago, the cute terrier-mix puppy was given two lethal injections at the animal shelter in Sulphur, Oklahoma. But the next day, he was found prancing around in the dumpster where he’d been thrown after being “euthanized.”
Wall-E, as he became known, was in the newspapers and on TV all over the country. “Euthanized Oklahoma Puppy, Wall-E, rises from dead,” announced the New York Daily News. And the dog who had been scheduled to die because no one wanted him was suddenly flooded with thousands of adoption offers.
Since then, Wall-E has been in the care of Amanda Kloski, a veterinary technician at the Arbuckle Veterinary Clinic in Sulphur, who has been working her way through all the adoption offers to find the most suitable family for the dog. The family she settled on has asked to remain anonymous.
“For some reason I had a complete comfort in picking them,” Kloski told the Associated Press. “They just really stood out.”
She said the couple has taken care of a special needs animal before and all their other animals had exceptional medical histories.
“I feel really good about this couple,” she said. “They can give him what I can’t give him and what a lot of people probably couldn’t.”
Wall-E became an instant celebrity when he was found alive in the dumpster back in February. He was called a “miracle” dog, and in March he appeared on Good Morning America.
Dogs and cats with stories like his always receive thousands of adoption offers. Psychologists say that we humans tend toward the idea that the good fortune of the celebrity will somehow rub off on us. We feel special if we get to shake hands with a famous actress or the President, or we get touched by a religious leader … or can adopt a “miracle” dog or cat.
But anyone who’s adopted a homeless pet has experienced that same miracle. The life they rescue when they adopt a homeless pet has escaped death just as surely as Wall-E did.
Vet tech Kloski wasn’t looking for a home for Wall-E where the family was looking to own a celebrity; she chose the home of people who had already cared for animals with special needs, and who wanted to remain anonymous.
But Wall-E has also done much to highlight the plight of abused and abandoned animals. And famed artist Ron Burns has done a painting of Wall-E to help raise funds for a new shelter in Sulphur.
“I believe Wall-E is still with us for a certain purpose, and that purpose is threefold — that through his ‘tail’ of miraculous survival, he is here to help his fellow four-legged friends, to remind us all of the importance of animal adoption and to stress the necessity of local spay and neuter programs,” Burns said.
What do you say? Did a homeless pet you adopted bring a miracle of whatever kind into your own life? Let us know in a comment below or on Facebook.
What you can do: Check out Ron Burns’ portrait of Wall-E. If you have room in your home, adopt a dog or cat who’s less likely to find a home otherwise. And always have your pets spayed or neutered.