When Cinnamon, a red-nose Pitbull, was surrendered to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Animal Care & Control shelter in North Carolina, her spirit was broken.
She was left without her puppies, and every time someone spoke to her, tears would fill her eyes.
A volunteer, witnessing her heartbreaking condition, decided to capture a short video and share it on Facebook. In just 48 hours, Cinnamon’s entire life was transformed.
A Cry That Touched Hearts
On a Saturday, Sarah Jennings Sleime, a regular volunteer at the Greater Charlotte SPCA, stopped by animal control to check on the dogs. She had no idea one dog would touch her heart so deeply.
“I walked the kennels and a pit bull caught my eye… she was sitting up, kind of slumped-over, almost human-like,” Sleime recalled on Instagram.
Cinnamon appeared to have recently given birth, and her body bore the marks of many past litters. Yet, her puppies were nowhere to be found.
“The shelter workers believe she was confined and used as a breeding machine. She’s obviously had many, many litters,” Sleime told The Dodo.
As Sleime bent down to comfort her, Cinnamon’s eyes filled with tears every time.
“It was the craziest phenomenon,” Sleime said.
At that time, the SPCA was unable to take in large dogs without foster homes, but Sleime couldn’t ignore Cinnamon’s pain.
“I snapped some video footage of her ‘crying’ and posted it to Facebook. 48 hours later, that video has been viewed 1 MILLION times and shared by 20k people,” Sleime shared.
The response was overwhelming. Her inbox was flooded with messages from people eager to help Cinnamon.
A Family’s Love And A New Beginning
Among those touched by Cinnamon’s heartbreaking story was Meghan Connor Shelton from Charlotte, North Carolina.
“I have a special place in my heart for pit bulls. I think they’re a very misunderstood dog and a misunderstood breed. And when I saw her in that video, literally crying in a cage, I cried. My kids cried. I showed my husband, and he said we could go look at her tomorrow,” Shelton told The Dodo.
The following morning, Shelton and her family were the first to meet Cinnamon.
The moment they saw her, it was love at first sight. “It was love at first sight. She just kind of pulled at our heartstrings,” Shelton recalled.
The family quickly completed the adoption paperwork, and once Cinnamon, now renamed Rosie, was spayed, she went home with her new family.
Rosie’s New Life
The Sheltons already had a three-year-old Pitbull named Blu. They were unsure how the two would get along, especially after Rosie’s traumatic past. But their introduction went smoothly.
“It was interesting because you never know how it’s going to go, but they just kind of sat next to each other with tails wagging,” Shelton explained.
Rosie and Blu quickly became inseparable, as if they had known each other for years.
Rosie’s playful personality began to shine, and her family was delighted by one of her funniest quirks: “When she gets excited, she snorts like a pig,” they said.
Rosie’s viral video not only gave her a forever home but also saved many other shelter dogs.
“Small acts have a big impact: Not only was this sweet dog, Cinnamon, adopted the next morning, but other families who came to adopt her saved other dogs at the shelter, freeing up kennels for strays and owner surrenders waiting in the back who would have certainly been euthanized as the shelter is full,” Sleime said.
One simple photo or video can change countless lives.