Emotional video helps dog return home permanently after 7 years at the shelter

SAPPHIRE, North Carolina – A beagle dog who arrived at an animal shelter in North Carolina seven years ago “thin and scared” has finally found a place to spend his senior years.

The Cashiers-Highland Humane Society in Sapphire, North Carolina adopted Mitch as a homeless person in 2016. The treehound was afraid of people, but after much love and care, he eventually learned to trust people.

Despite numerous appearances in local newspapers and adoption segments on local television, Mitch was consistently overlooked due to his shy nature. The shelter staff say it takes Mitch some time to get used to new people, but once he does, he becomes a “cute and affectionate” dog.

The shelter recently posted an emotional video with Mitch on Facebook and TikTok, asking for someone to help and provide a home for an 11-year-old dog. The woman who follows the shelter on Facebook has seen posts about Mitch in the past, but the video “convinced her to give Mitch a home for good,” said David Stroud, the shelter’s executive director.

READ MORE: “Same best friend”: one-eared dog from the shelter tore off the ear of his favorite soft toy

“I cried when I watched it for the first time,” Mitch’s new owner Teresa Schular told WLOS. “I cried when I watched it the second time. I thought about it and prayed about it for several days.”

So far, Mitch seems to really enjoy lying on the porch, Shular said.

“Several people said to me: “Why would you get a dog of this age just to have it die on you?” And I said: “So that he has a house in advance,” Shular continued. “It’s not about me, it’s about Mitch.”

The orphanage was delighted with Mitch and his new family, although Stroud notes that Cashiers-Highland is “an unusual orphanage.” For those who thought Mitch might have been “languishing in some kind of cage of concrete and chains” all these years, “nothing could be further from the truth.”

READ MORE: Missing dog reunited with family after 8 years: ‘I think he really remembers us’

“We’re located on 10 acres in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains and all dogs can frolic and roam all day in acres of open play yards,” Stroud told FOX. “They only come to their modern kennels at the end of the day to eat and sleep.

“We give them birthday parties, Thanksgiving parties, and every pet from the shelter gets a personalized stocking for Christmas,” he continued. “The best thing, of course, is an eternal home. But until every animal under our care finds its own eternal home, they do not need anything in our safe haven.

Victoria Stilwell, trainer and star of Animal Planet Is it me or the dogonce referred to Cashiers-Highlands as the “Hilton Dog”.

“It’s really the best thing,” Stroud said. “And as Mitch can attest, we never turn down animals entrusted to our care.”