When he walked through the North Carolina shelter’s front door, everyone paused. They’d seen plenty of dogs come and go, but something about this one made them double-take.
His stance, the way he moved: it wasn’t quite a dog, and it wasn’t quite anything else.
The staff sized him up with quiet smiles, wondering how to describe him. “Looks like a stuffed meerkat,” someone whispered.
His short legs, his proud chest, his unblinking stare: it all added up. They leaned in closer, tried to learn his name, his history, his little quirks so obvious once you looked.
He didn’t bark much. He watched. He carried himself like someone who knew he was noticed. The moment they realized how special he was changed the way they saw the whole day.
What Happened To Him?
The rescuers working for the SPCA of Wake County (SPCAWC) are no strangers to accepting all sorts of odd animals who need their help.
However, what they came across recently shocked them. At first, they thought that it was a badly taxidermied meerkat, but the reality was far different.
It was actually a dog who had been struggling for a long time and desperately needed help. The dog, named Banjo, shocked everyone with his appearance.
This dog had been saved from a crowded shelter that was struggling to care for him. Since he was old, he needed more attention than other dogs due to his health.
Samantha Ranlet, who works at SPCAWC told The Dodo: “If there’s one thing that gets us right in the feels every time, it’s a nervous dog or a senior dog. So naturally, everyone on our team began the mission of spoiling him rotten and winning his trust.”
The rescuers worked tirelessly to make Banjo feel comfortable and at ease with them, and it was starting to work. He was starting to show his personality more with every day.
Banjo’s ‘Pretty Sitting’
Ranlet continues by saying: “Somewhere along the line, someone taught Banjo to ‘sit pretty,’ and he took that very seriously. So, he just saunters around, popping into ‘sit pretty’ without being asked, just because.”
The rescuers were not sure why he did this ‘pretty sitting’ trick all the time, but it was clear that he was trying to show his rescuers something.
Maybe it was out of affection in a way. Either way, the rescuers loved it when he did that. They love spending time with Banjo because he always makes them laugh.
The staff even calls him “plump little meerkat masterpiece” out of affection, and it’s just so sweet. They worked so hard to help him fit in so that he could find a forever home.
And before you even know it, it happened. Banjo’s life changed overnight when he was adopted by a wonderful family.
Even though he will dearly miss all the kind people from the North Carolina shelter, he is happy with his new life and they are so happy to see that.