A heart-breaking image of a loyal dog sitting alongside the hospital bed of his owner who recently died has gone viral online and prompted inquiries about adopting him.
On Monday, New Jersey's NorthStar Pet Rescue posted on Facebook an image of a three-year-old labrador, named Moose, sitting "patiently next to his dad's hospital bed, waiting for him to return".
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However, the owner had passed away and the post said Moose was "taking the loss of his dad pretty hard"
"Please help Moose find a new home and a family for him to love," it said.
NorthStar Pet rescue said he adores children and was the type of dog that shouldn't be left at home all day long as he "misses his people too much".
"He's a sweet happy boy by nature. He just needs people to help his heart heal."
A second post from Eleventh Hour Rescue, which is currently looking after the dog, said Moose was found in August 2017 tied to a railroad sign in front a rural Georgia animal shelter.
"Moose was at that shelter for many months and during that time he had no interest from adopters," the post said.
Eventually, Moose was taken to an Eleventh Hour Rescue shelter from where his owner eventually adopted him.
After tragedy struck Moose's "dad", the post said it was Eleventh Hour Rescue's adoption policy, that if "an adopted cannot keep one of our dogs for any reason, the dog must come back to us, and Moose did just that."
"No matter how crowded we are, we always make room for one of our own".
Both posts have since gone viral on Facebook, with thousands of likes and shares between them, and due to the attention received, the pet rescues updated their posts on Thursday (local time) to say Moose had received "several applications".
"We are hopeful he will find a forever home soon," NorthStar Pet Rescue said.
Newshub.
