Thankful rescue dog won’t stop hugging everyone he meets

Toro entered the Hempstead Animal Shelter last October after he was found chained to a fence outside an abandoned house. Rescuers suspected that he had probably lived on the streets all his life and knew he would take some time to get used to his new surroundings.

«When he was first brought in, he was very nervous and withdrawn,» Melissa Fogarty, a kennel and animal placement inspector at the Hempstead Animal Shelter. «He’s become more comfortable with the people he’s used to, but he’s still a little nervous in the shelter environment.»

Despite his fears, it was clear that Thoreau loves people — and he soon showed his rescuers just how much by starting to cuddle them.

«I was probably one of the first people to take him out for a walk when he came to us,» Fogarty said. «The cuddling happened probably within 15 minutes of him walking freely in our yard to play. He just crawled up to me, climbed into my lap and snuggled up against my chest … things have since sprawled out, and now he cuddles all of his friends here.»

Even though he’s still a little nervous at the shelter, Toro is very grateful to be in a place where he’s safe and loved, and reminds everyone of that every chance he gets.

«Every time he comes out of the kennel, his first reaction is to hug the person walking him and generally anyone he comes in contact with,» Fogarty says.

Toro was adopted in January, but unfortunately he was returned a week and a half later because he didn’t fit in. He is still looking for the perfect home where he can hug his family every day to show them how much he loves them.

Toro is looking for an adult-only home with a family that can give him lots of structure and continue his training. He will need to be crate trained and taught basic house rules, as well as make him the only pet in his new home.

After almost a year of waiting, Toro is more than ready to find his perfect match, and his rescuers have a hard time understanding why such a loving dog who adores cuddling has not yet been chosen.

«I honestly think he hasn’t been adopted because he’s a middle-aged pit mix living in a high-maintenance municipal shelter,» says Fogarty. «He gets lost in this sea of dogs that don’t do well in their kennels.»

Toro has so much love — and so many hugs — to give, and we hope his permanent family finds him very soon.»