Benji was adopted many times but kept being returned to the shelter for unknown reasons. It was the eleventh time, and each of his owners gave the same lame explanation. The new trainee didn’t know what was wrong with Benji until she took him home with her.
Also, no one at the shelter would have expected this to happen…
Stacy was rattled up as she drove back to the shelter. In the back seat, Benji was fast asleep. Stacy felt terrible because she had thought she could assist this poor puppy, but now she had to give him back to the shelter for the 12th time. They may not have understood why, but at least they knew why now.
Stacy had rung in advance, so when she and Benji arrived, they found three other workers already seated and waiting. Despite their evident sadness at the failed adoption, they couldn’t help but be intrigued by the prospect of hearing the real reason why.
Stacy was trusted because they knew she would tell them the truth about why Benji kept being sent back to the shelter. On the other hand, they would soon learn that they were unprepared to face the reality.
So, why did the Shelter keep sending Benjij back there 11 times? Can they figure out what’s wrong with this sad dog?
Benji had been living at the animal shelter for around 18 months at this time. He wasn’t even close to being a puppy anymore, but he looked like one, so naturally, everyone who came to the shelter to pick him up fell in love with him. And yet, why had poor Benji stayed?
While it may seem like Benji spent most of those 15 months at a shelter, the fact is he didn’t. If he were there, he’d be adopted within two weeks at the most. But the problem was that the folks who adopted him kept giving him back.
This began when he was only three weeks old and taken to the shelter. His original family had a dog that had five hale and hearty pups. However, for whatever reason, they opted to retain four of them, and Benji was abandoned at the shelter.
After some questions were raised, the shelter had its on-call vet give Benji a thorough examination. Because the puppy’s tests came back normal, the shelter decided he must have simply lucked out and ended up there.
As soon as they placed him up for adoption, someone came to claim him the next day. Most dogs sent to shelters were already adults, so everyone who met Benji realized they had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The household to whom he was being sent seemed ideal. This newlywed couple has a 5-year-old daughter who has been begging for a dog since they were married. Benji would have plenty of attention from his mother, who also worked from home. There was little hope that Benji would return to the shelter.
However, this would turn out to be far from the truth. Benji’s new owners only kept him for three weeks before surrendering him to the shelter. It was only Dad and a very elated Benji. Clearly, he felt a strong connection to the guys and had no notion that this would be his final encounter with them.
The men’s argument for sending Benji back was as flimsy as the rationale they offered. Something about how steady it all was wasn’t working out. From what the shelter knew about the family, this made no sense at all.
The shelter, however, chose not to probe too much at the moment. Benji would be better off with the family if they were unwilling to care for him. Furthermore, they were certain that he would soon be adopted by a family that would shower him with affection. That happened only once, right?
But in the end, this wouldn’t turn out to be an accident after all. Whatever the cause, it continued occurring again and over again. Benji was adopted many times, but always returned to the shelter after just a few weeks.
They had never seen anything like that before, and the shelter staff had no idea what was causing it. It always looked like the excuses made for sending the unfortunate dog back were lacking substance. Moreover, they varied greatly from one another, suggesting that some of them must be fabrications.
Depending on who you ask, Benji is either too active or too lazy to leave bed. Depending on who you ask, you could hear that he’s either too confident with humans or too afraid of other dogs to visit the park. Nothing about it made sense…
The shelter had no choice but to put Benji up for adoption once again due of their dire situation. They couldn’t keep him indefinitely at the shelter. When this sad puppy was returned for the eleventh time, no one was hopeful that he would ever find a permanent home.
Everyone at the shelter adored the dog, but it was clear that the puppy was beginning to feel the effects of this never-ending cycle. Every time they placed him back in his case, they could see the light dimming from his eyes. This was a really sad story…
At this time, Benji had resigned himself to sitting in a corner of his case and looked dejected. His eleventh owner provided the shelter with evidence supporting this hypothesis. It felt like Benji didn’t trust him and was generally dissatisfied. They know too well that this is what they will think…
Everyone at the shelter felt a pressing need to address the issue at hand. Stacy, a trainee who had been there for all of two weeks, provided the answer to their problem despite everyone’s deep concern for the dog.
She was in school and training for a career as a veterinarian. She had been a shelter volunteer for two months. She had never seen a dog until Benji’s most recent owner returned him, and she fell hopelessly in love with him the moment she did.
She had only seen Benji in his sad state, but the more seasoned staff members at the shelter had informed her about how much of a character he used to be. And they did tell her the whole truth regarding Benji’s 11 returns for different reasons.
Stacy, though, was unfazed. What a shame that so many naive people had given up on Benji and surrendered him to the shelter, she thought. The dog clearly deserved a better life, and she was determined to provide one. But she had no clue what she was in for at the time…
Since she was still residing in her parents’ home, she would have to win them on to the idea of acquiring a dog. She was concerned that they wouldn’t be enthusiastic about the plan, but to her delight, they were. Because of Stacy’s impending departure, they had been considering buying a dog.
Stacy was able to bring Benji home the same day the paperwork was processed. Benji had gone through this similar process eleven times by this point. Even while being led out of the cage, he never showed any signs of emotion.
Benji avoided Stacy completely on the journey back home. The road ahead was long and winding, she thought, before this poor dog would trust humans again and return to his former state of ebullient happiness. Stacy thought she could pull it off, but she soon doubted herself.
Stacy’s parents were excited to see their new son Benji when she returned home with him. Stacy’s dad had already made a trip to the pet shop to pick her a new bed and dish. The whole family was ecstatic to have a new member to care for.
Since Benji was not the family’s first dog, they already possessed many of the necessary supplies. They already had 3 more roaming the home. Benji was the smallest of the group. Something was still odd, and they weren’t sure what it was. Benji, though, was acting strangely.
Benji’s difficulties with believing and connecting with the other canines were immediately apparent to his household. He merely stood there and gazed about aimlessly for a while. However much the family cared for Benji, it seemed as though he still did not like his time with them. As well as they could, they did their best.
Upon being released from their confinement, the family’s other canines, on the other hand, were not so reticent to meet their new canine companion. One of them even handed Benji a toy to sniff and one of the other dogs was sniffing him like there was no tomorrow. Then, Benji’s attitude shifted somewhat. How did he feel about all the focus?
Benji’s aloof exterior appeared to soften a little under the influence of all the attention and engagement, and he began interacting with the other dogs. The remainder of the day was devoted to providing Benji with the most enjoyable experience possible. So far as they were concerned, it was the best way to show Benji some love. Right?
They took Benji to the park, let him pick out a new toy, and made him a delicious steak. A day spent in doggie paradise had a profound influence on Benji. He spent the whole day wagging his tail. Stacy, like the rest of the family, appeared to enjoy her time with Benji. Additionally, Benji seems to like them. If I felt that way, would it last?
The family believed they’d found a terrific addition to the family within 24 hours since he had reverted back to the energetic puppy he had been. Then, why was Benji sent back so frequently? What, if anything, did they not know yet?
The following several days were quite uneventful. It seems like Benji had little trouble settling into the family’s typical routine. Stacy reported everything back to the shelter, and everyone was thrilled to hear about the positive developments. But suddenly the tide began to turn. Benji’s mysteriously vanished without a trace.
One morning, when everyone in the family awoke, they found Benji missing from their bed. They looked all throughout the home, but couldn’t find him anywhere. Stacy began to have anxiety. When the shelter entrusted her with Benji, she failed them. Just what was happening? Could Benji have gotten away, or did something else happen?
She made the decision to keep her absence a secret and use the week to look for Benji. She started by asking everyone in her neighborhood whether they had seen the dog, but no one had. Benji seemed to have vanished into thin air; nobody could find him. This really distressed Stacy.
Benji could not be located after repeated inquiries and searches throughout the morning. As far as we could tell, no one had seen him, so we decided to put up flyers. Stacy prayed no one from the shelter saw them. After all they had been through, she could not bear the thought of disappointing them now.
Two more days passed. Unfortunately, Benji had not returned. The family had posted flyers everywhere but received no responses. Stacy felt she had to tell the truth to the shelter staff because of the dire situation they were in. She made up her mind to make the call. But then something else occurred.
But at that moment, the phone rang. Benji had been located. The caller seemed agitated, but he was hesitant to provide specifics about where or how it happened. Immediately, Stacy’s adrenaline began pumping, and she became on the edge of her seat. What was Benji up to, exactly?
Stacy, bewildered and worried, approached the man’s home in her car. The trip would take close to an hour. How did Benji get so far away from home, anyway? She had no idea how Benji managed this, but she was intrigued by the unknown.
When Stacy got home, the guy who discovered him was already there. He folded his arms across his chest and looked quite tense. Seriously, what the heck had Benji done? When the guy stood there seemingly motionless, Stacy became nervous.
The guy led Stacy inside, where he had Benji chained up in a cage, without saying anything. Stacy was about to become mad at the guy for locking up the puppy, but then the man began to explain what had occurred. There would be an immediate epiphany.
Sometime earlier that day, Benji had reportedly arrived. The guy had not seen the advertisements and had searched for an owner; if he had not found anybody, he planned to phone the shelter since Benji was still wearing his collar with the contact information on it.
He was at home with Benji at the time and assumed he was dealing with a polite puppy. Until, that is, his own cat stopped over to see what was going on. Stacy had an inkling about what Benji was capable of doing.
Just then, Benji’s mood shifted and he began assaulting the man’s cat. Before Benji could injure the cat, he responded in time and grabbed him. After that, the guy wasted no time putting Benji in his feline enclosure. He thought it was the best way to ensure the safety of both his cat and Benji.
The man then contacted the shelter and gave a detailed account of what had occurred. Once he described the puppy to the shelter workers, they urged him to phone Stacy so that she could come get him. Thankfully, Benji emerged from the incident unscathed.
Stacy glanced at her phone and realized she had missed many calls from the homeless shelter. It was no longer feasible to keep this information hidden. She took Benji from the guy and consoled him for his loss. She felt compelled to provide an explanation to the shelter staff.
Soon after, she returned to the shelter with Benji. Stacy came to find that several of the other workers had already contacted Benji’s prior owners to inquire about whether or not they had had similar issues. Findings from these conversations revealed some surprising things.
They called around to all the former owners and got the same narrative from everyone. The real reason Benji was sent back was because he had assaulted another animal. With this, they were able to form a clearer image of Benji and move on. Just what prompted this hostility to the animal kingdom?
They had fabricated the story for fear that if the truth were known, Benji would be killed. They all cared too much about the dog’s happiness to allow it to weigh on their minds. But they took him back to the shelter to be sure it wouldn’t happen again while he was in their care.
Now normally Benji would have been designated a dangerous animal and actually would have been put down, but Stacy and the shelter would not allow it. They had some idea of what they were up against now. They were confident in their ability to aid Benji as well.
Benji would spend the next two weeks working on overcoming his fear of feline residents. They were given time to get to know Benji in a safe setting. While Benji first resisted the shelter’s efforts to get him to participate, they were dogged in their pursuit. Did you get your money’s worth out of this?
In the end, Benji’s cat-hatred was trained out of him, and he was returned to Stacy and her family. They were overjoyed to have gotten Benji back, since he was the puppy they had always wanted. To put it simply, they adored Benji. He expressed appreciation to them for helping.
After that, they never again had any issues with the dog. Stacy was finally able to complete the family unit with his inclusion. Having found his eternal home, Benji could relax now. At that time, Benji no longer required a home since he had all the necessities for a dog.
