Last March, the Internet sighed over a photo that showed a dog racing after her owners, who had dumped her at a gas station and driven off. It was a heartbreaking photo.
There was more to the story, of course. Actually, there was an entirely different story, but it was just as sad. After media organizations started asking questions, it turned out the people racing away from the dog, whose name was Butterbean, did not own Butterbean at all. They were trying to escape Butterbean, who had a habit of chasing after cars from her neighborhood. The people who owned the dog were the real villains; they let her wander at will, putting her in danger from cars and everything else that can threaten a dog left on her own.
Well, Butterbean finally has a real home, and it’s a good one. Guy Lawrence-Edenheimer, a 65-year-old retired musician, recently adopted the dog, according to ABC News. He got the idea that he wanted Butterbean after watching one of the original news shows about the fleeing dog, which he saw on the same day his old friend Rocky passed away.
“The timing was just too perfect,” he told ABC News. “It was like it was meant to be.”
He contacted the Humane Society of Louisiana, which was being besieged with requests for Butterbean. Lawrence-Edenheimer pled a good case. The humane society’s director, Jeff Dorson, said that “no one expressed more enthusiasm to be Butterbean’s new caretaker” than him.
He picked her up on May 18, driving from Illinois to Mississippi, where Butterbean was finishing up medical treatments to get her fit after a life on the run. It was love at first sight.
“She’s an absolute sweetheart,” Lawrence-Edenheimer told ABC News. “After the first night I got her, she jumped onto the bed, licked my face, and bounced my elbows up with her nose.”
Butterbean follows his new papa around, too, but Lawrence-Edenheimer lets the dog ride in the car when he goes out.
“I treat her as though she were my child,” he said. “It’s expensive getting her healthy, especially because she’s still dealing with heartworm, but how can you put a dollar amount of love? You just can’t do it.”
Via ABC News.
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