Smokey, a young pup, found a loving home that lavished him with a plethora of playthings. Yet, among all these gifts, a stuffed elephant with oversized ears captured his heart like no other. Remarkably, Smokey treated this cherished toy with unparalleled tenderness, despite having the capability to dismantle it swiftly. The toy wasn’t just for play; it became Smokey’s faithful companion on daily walks and his constant cuddle buddy through every night’s slumber.

He lived in a loving home until he was five, but then everything changed.

Image/Story Source Credit: YouTube Video

The owner faced unemployment, leading to financial hardships for the family. In an effort to cope, they moved to a smaller residence, yet financial challenges persisted. Feeding Smokey became increasingly difficult, prompting them to seek a new home for him among friends and acquaintances. Unfortunately, due to Smokey’s size, finding someone willing and able to take in a large dog proved to be an insurmountable task.

When they found out that they were going to lose their house, they tried even harder to find him a new home. But finally, they had to face the facts that they could no longer care for Smokey. They made the extraordinarily difficult decision to surrender him to a shelter. They dropped him off with his favorite toy, and said goodbye forever.

Smokey was shattered. His heart was completely broken. After losing his people and having to adjust to life in the shelter, Smokey started to suffer from severe anxiety. He had no interest in playing or interacting with any of the shelter volunteers. He simply laid in the corner of his crate, clutching his elephant in his mouth.

Image/Story Source Credit: YouTube Video

The shelter was in a rush to find Smokey a new home due to their limited capacity for housing animals. The images of him cuddling his beloved elephant toy garnered interest from potential adopters, raising the shelter’s hopes that he would find a forever home quickly.

But every time a family came to see if they connected with him, he would hide in the corner. When they tried to approach him, he was so scared that he would growl. Since he started to show signs of aggression, the shelter was forced to take him off the list of “adoptable dogs.” Unfortunately, this essentially put him on death row, and he was headed towards being put down.

The shelter didn’t have the space or ability to accommodate a dog that they couldn’t get adopted. So the date was set. He had to be adopted by then or he would be euthanized. But the shelter wasn’t going to give-up. They didn’t want Smokey to die.