Kala and Keira were rescued from the brink of death by Angels Among Us Pet Rescue who fostered them till they found forever homes.
The power of the internet should never be underestimated. When two rescue dogs were next in line to be put to sleep, all it took was a simple plea on Facebook for them to be rescued. A picture of the dogs, Kala and Keira, hugging each other with their pleading puppy dog eyes caught the attention of Angels Among Us Pet Rescue who also posted the image on their page. The request to save them from being put down was written from Kala's point of view. That alone would be enough to tug at anyone's heartstrings. That, coupled with the heartbreaking image of the two dogs huddled together, was enough for the image to go viral and also for the dogs to be rescued from the brink of death.
Kala's plea read: "I'm Kala. This is Keira. We're so scared in here. The people working in the shelters see how scared we are but just told each other that today is our deadline. We have to have someone rescue us or we'll be 'next.' Keira is black and not a 'real boxer,' just a mix. She's so brave and tells me it will be okay no matter what happens. She tells me to be brave too but I don't know if I can be. Can you see our faces. Keira knows what will happen. You can see it in her eyes. She's putting on a brave face for sure but I can feel her heart beating fast while I'm clinging to her. If no one saves us, someone will take her away from me. I'll see her as she goes down the hallway. She won't come back and I'll cry. They'll come for me next and I won't be as brave. We've comforted each other while we were here. She gave me hope when I had none. Now it's over. Unless..."
Within just two hours and six minutes, Kala and Keira's lives were saved when they were taken in by Angels Among Us Pet Rescue where they would be fostered until they would get adopted. The dogs were being held at Etowah Valley Humane Society, Georgia. Karin Wallace, a founding core member of the rescue shelter noted that the two puppies loved to play together. Kala, at the time, was an eight-month-old hound mix and Keira was only a year old. The picture was originally shared in July 2015. The two puppies have now found their forever home as well.
The puppies had their whole life ahead of them and found two humans who would be very lucky to have found them. Wendy Newman and Pam Cody saw that the two dogs were still up for adoption a few months after their picture went viral. The two roommates had tragically lost their two dogs within days of each other and were devastated by their loss. “We lost our whole family in one week,” Cody, 53, a dental hygienist told PEOPLE. “We were grieving our other dogs — it’s a major loss — but it’s kind of like Kala and Keira found us,” Newman, 55, a postal worker added.
“It was love at first sight,” Newman said about meeting the pooches. “They play nonstop. And they still hug!” Cody stated that it was debatable whether they rescued the dogs or if the dogs rescued them. “I don’t know who needed who the most. I think we needed them.” There could potentially be many more dogs like Kala and Keira that could have helped others like Cody and Newman if it wasn't for the indiscriminate euthanization of dogs. Wallace told ABC News, “The need to rescue pets from high kill shelters in Georgia is astronomical. Our ability to save more lives is limited only in our ability to find foster homes to care for them.”
References:
https://people.com/pets/hugging-shelter-dogs-find-their-happily-ever-after/
Cover Image Source: Facebook/Angels Among Us Pet Rescue
