Blue Bear’s only home for the last 11 years had been with his dad, but that all changed last week. Blue Bear’s dad had nowhere to go, so the senior mastiff ended up at Trenton Animals Rock. Blue Bear had no idea why he was at a shelter or why his dad couldn’t stop crying.
He growled and barked, frightening the staff at the shelter, until his dad urged him to sit and Danielle Gletow approached him.
“I went over to him, and he immediately leaned his head into my waist and let me pet him,” Gletow, director of Trenton Animals Rock said. “It was just heartbreaking.”
Blue Bear wasn’t violent, Gletow recognized; he was just bewildered and unhappy. Gletow assured Blue Bear’s dad that the dog would not spend the night in the shelter and began about finding him a foster home. Blue Bear began to cry since he was separated from his own family.
“We tried to put Blue Bear in a kennel just while we collected ourselves and tried to make some calls, and he was just super sad,” Gletow said. “So we brought him into the office, and he laid his head in my lap. Every chance he got, he’d go over to the door and sit in front of it crying. He turned around, and he had literal tears coming down his face. I’m not exaggerating — literal tears.”
Gletow assured Blue Bear that until he secured a temporary residence, she wouldn’t leave the shelter that evening. But she knew it wouldn’t be simple to place Blue Bear because he weighed 130 pounds and had significant arthritis in his back legs.
After Gletow posted a video of Blue Bear on Facebook, suddenly calls and texts from around the country began to arrive.
Fortunately, Madison, a local foster, also watched the heartbreaking video and offered to take Blue Bear. At Madison’s home, Blue Bear was able to unwind.
“We put a pillow on the floor, and he laid his head down on the pillow, and Madison and I just sat with him and snuggled him and spent some time,” Gletow said. “He’s really sweet. He’s like a gentle giant.”
While Blue Bear’s dad’s status remains precarious, Gletow is still in contact with him and is working to provide Blue Bear with a cozy location to spend his golden years.
“We’re going to keep him in foster care for a while to let him decompress,” Gletow said. “Once the vet has a chance to see him and we know what his needs are, we’ll start looking for a home with someone familiar with large-breed dogs, and we’ll get him on supplements and possibly acupuncture.”
Blue Bear is just one example of how Trenton Animals Rock is trying to help the pets in their community. And while Blue Bear’s future is still uncertain, one thing is for sure, there will be no more tears.
