A dog rescued by Richardson Animal Services right before Christmas drew national attention after the shelter caught the animal being abandoned on camera.
In the video, you can see the dog wandering around the parking lot after being abandoned, waiting for his owner to return, and eventually curling up in some donated blankets and a bed outside the front door of the shelter, trying to keep warm.
Richardson Animal Shelter manager Noura Jammal said, “You could see, like, a little blur of an animal just wandering around the whole entire parking lot for a couple of hours,” according to CBS News.
The pup was left abandoned outside the shelter but what the owners did not know was it was all caught on camera. “It was a super cold night. [It was] windy and approximately 40 degrees out there,” Jammal said.
It took seven hours for animal service officers to get to work and discover the newest addition to the shelter.
Using a microchip, they discovered the pup’s name was Khazi and that he was a three-year-old, severely underweight mixed breed. The shelter reported Khazi’s old owners to the police to press charges, but ultimately, this was a dead end.
The Dallas Express reached out to the Richardson Police Department for further details but had received no answer at the time of publication.
“He was at least 20 pounds underweight,” Jammal said. “And you could see that he was definitely neglected.”
Richardson Animal Shelter shared the video of Khazi being dropped off, which attracted the attention of tens of thousands of people around the country. His story went viral on TikTok.
On January 28, the shelter posted an update on Facebook that Khazi had been adopted by a family who had seen his story on CBS News.
“I feel like he’s just a big lug of a dog who just wants somebody to love on him and give him a good home, and he’ll treat you well for the rest of his life,” Jammal said.
In just five short weeks, Khazi was healthy again, but the shelter wants everyone to remember that there are always resources that can help. “There is always something that you can do. Abandonment is not the answer,” Jammal said.
Anyone interested in adopting an animal can call the Richardson Animal Shelter at 972-744-4480.