Tissue (Box) Alert! Watch a Shelter Mama Dog Reunite with Her Puppies

“Yesterday, two frightened dogs were surrendered to us. Upon examining the female, we learned she recently had puppies,” wrote the Marin Humane Society (MHS) on its Facebook page Monday.

“After some detective work and a lot of convincing, our team was able to get the person who surrendered the dogs to also surrender the puppies, as they still needed their momma and were not in a safe situation.”

Cora, the mama dog, had been shy and withdrawn ever since she was dumped at the shelter in Northern California. But as soon as she was reunited with her four puppies, Cora’s disposition completely changed. “Tears of joy all around at this happy reunion,” wrote MHS.

A video taken by shelter staff and posted on Facebook shows Cora anxiously sitting in a corner as an employee brings in a carrier filled with her puppies. After the employee lifts up one of the puppies for its mom to see, Cora runs toward it, her tail wagging hard. She literally jumps with joy as she is reunited with each of her pups (and even checks inside the carrier to make sure they’re all accounted for). Cora then hops into the employee’s lap, as if to say, “Thank you.”

The video has gone viral, with more than 3.4 million views on Facebook as of Thursday morning.

“Eat your heart out Kim Kardashian – there’s nothing like the power of heartwarming stories about animals!” MHS wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday.

Cora’s puppies have been named after “Downton Abbey” characters: the males are Carson, Moseley and Branson, and the female is Edith.

“They’ve re-bonded very quickly,” Lisa Bloch, director of marketing and communications for MHS, told SFGate.”Mom and babies are doing great.”

The family is now in a foster home. As soon as they’re old enough, the puppies and their mother will be available for adoption. Wouldn’t it be great if the whole family could be adopted together?

Photo via Facebook

Pit Bull Swims Mile from Sinking Boat, Walks to Church and Is Reunited with Dog Dad

“My neighbor told me there was a soaking wet, shivering dog crouched in the church doorway around 7:30 a.m. Thursday,” Rev. Paul Mowry of the Sausalito Presbyterian Church in Northern California told the Marin Independent Journal.

“Initially, I thought she was just a lost dog.”

Nope. As it turns out, Daisy, a Pit Bull, had escaped from the boat she lived on with her dog dad, Stephen Alioto, as it sank in Richardson Bay during heavy rainstorms Wednesday night.

She managed to swim a mile to shore in the cold, dark, choppy water, and then walked to the church, which she had previously visited with Alioto.

Mowry took Daisy to the Marin Humane Society. She was microchipped, and it had two phone numbers.

“I tried the secondary number a couple of times and got somebody who said the dog had been given away to a good friend, Steve,” Mowry, who is also the chaplain for the Sausalito Police Department, told the Journal. “And we (the church) have a Steve who comes to our free lunches on Wednesday.”

In the meantime, heartbroken, Alioto had notified Sausalito police that Daisy was missing. (The Journal story doesn’t mention how he managed to make it off the boat safely.) Sgt. Thomas Georges realized the dog who had shown up at the church was probably Daisy.

But the story doesn’t end there. Since Alioto was now homeless, it could have been difficult to locate him. Fortunately Mowry’s partner, Joe Silverman, had a hunch Alioto might show up at a church that was offering free dinners Friday night.

“So I went there and was talking to a man whose boat had sunk,” Mowry told the Journal. “I asked, ‘Is Steve here?’ and the man said, ‘He’s here. His boat sunk and his dog drowned.'”

Mowry said that when he located Alioto and told him Daisy had shown up at the church, “He started sobbing and threw his arms around me.”

Alioto was reunited with Daisy at the shelter on Saturday. He told Mowry he had given her swimming lessons and had taught her how to survive in the water. She had her own life preserver.

For now, Alioto and Daisy are staying on a friend’s boat.

“When Steve came to pick the dog up we provided him with a new leash and dog food,” Lisa Bloch of the Marin Humane Society told the Journal. “A woman just happened to come by to drop off a donation of a 50-pound bag of dog food, and she turned around and gave it to Steve.”

The humane society is accepting food and toy donations for Alioto and Daisy, as well as its many homeless pets. According to its Facebook page, Mowry will be coordinating efforts to help Alioto and Daisy.

“Steve said to me, ‘The things I lost are just things. They can be replaced. But you can’t be replaced, and I can’t be replaced, and Daisy can’t be replaced,'” Mowry told the Journal.

“That dog is his companion. She’s his everything.”

Photo via Facebook

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