From the archives: This story was last updated in August 2019.
For many, coming across a dog that has been dumped can be heartbreaking. This is a story of a mama pit bull that had given birth and been abandoned at Charlotte Mecklenburg Animal Care & Control (CMACC) in North Carolina. She suffered a lonely existence.The pit bull was surrendered without her puppies in 2017, exhausted, confused, and alone.
Sleime, captivated by the sad pit bull, bent over and started talking to her. The dog’s eyes watered; it looked as though she was crying. “It was the craziest phenomenon,” Sleime said.
While we can’t assume that dogs exhibit the exact same emotions as humans, there was no doubt in Sleime’s mind that the then-7-year-old dog had suffered a great loss and was desperately lonely on her own.
“[The shelter workers] believe she was confined and used as a breeding machine,” Sleime explained. “She’s obviously had many, many litters.”
Cinnamon was surrendered right before the holiday season. CMACC was overwhelmed. “[They] had to euthanize over 30 animals that day,” Sleime shared. “Some people surrendered because they were going out of town and didn’t want to pay to board their animals.”
“[I’m] so glad we got her out in time,” she further added.
Sleime knew that the shelter was also unable to help Cinnamon; they were overrun themselves and had no foster homes to send her to. But luckily, Sleime’s video was gaining all the right attention online. Offers to foster and adopt the lonely dog flooded in.
However, Sleime ended up finding a solution much closer to home. Her own friend Meghan Shelton fell for Cinnamon upon seeing her “crying” video online and knew she'd be a perfect addition to her young, dog-loving family.
The Sheltons were first in line. “It was love at first sight,” Shelton later shared. “She just kind of pulled at our heartstrings.” The sudden influx of attention from the young, happy family revived Cinnamon’s spirits. “They had brought her into a room to meet with us, and we just let her relax,” Shelton recalled.
“My kids were on the floor with her, and she sat on their laps and knocked them over with kisses!”
Cinnamon was indeed a perfect fit. The family adopted her the very same day, renaming her “Rosie” with a view to starting over. Things were about to get much better for this poor dog that had been used and abused for way too long.
The Sheltons had another pit bull at home, a then-3-year-old male named Blu. Shelton hung back, wanting to let Rosie acclimatize to her new home before having to undergo the stress of meeting her new canine housemate.
But Shelton’s misgivings were unfounded; the dogs whined to be introduced to one another and immediately became the firmest of friends. With her new playmate in tow, Rosie came out of her shell.
“When she gets excited, she snorts like a pig,” Shelton laughed. “It’s so cute.” For sweet Rosie, the right family came by in the nick of time.
This story serves to remind us that a dog is for life. With the help of kindhearted individuals, Rosie has got a second chance at life.
