16 Pet Adoption Stories That Will Make You Cry SEE THE DIFFERENCE A FOREVER HOME CAN MAKE.

Bear, the pit bull hit by a car and left for dead

When Bear was still just a puppy, he was hit by a car at a gas station and left for dead. The accident led him to lose both of his eyes, and when his owner saw him at the pet hospital, she just left them there. Luckily, a member of the hospital staff told her daughter about Bear, and she welcomed the pit bull into her home and her heart. Now, he’s the happiest pup ever. To learn more about Bear, find out Why the Story of This Blind Pit Bull Is Melting Hearts Everywhere.

2. AJ, an abandoned Lab whose sobs led to smiles

Back in 2016, a video of AJ—a six-year-old Labrador retriever—went viral for showing just how human a dog’s reaction to being abandoned can be. The video from the Carson Animal Shelter in California showed the poor dog gasping back sobs in sorrow and confusion upon realizing that he had been abandoned. Once the video circulated around the internet, however, it wasn’t long before tons of people applied to adopt both AJ and his brother, and soon they went home together with a good, loving family.

3. Bruno, the coolest and sassiest abandoned cat

In August 2018, the internet collectively fell in love with “Bruno the Hight Maintenance Cat”—a 25-pound, 7-year-old cat who was picked up by Wright Way Rescue in Illinois and deemed “too cool to be homeless.” Bruno is so extra that he stands on his hind legs when demanding food and expects to be pet while eating. He also needs multiple water bowls to be placed for him around the house. He’s now in a loving home where he’s treated like the royalty that he is, and you can follow him on Instagram.

4. Columbo, the stray dog who went on a wild ride

In July 2018, cyclist Jarrett Little was riding his bike near Columbus, Georgia, when he spotted a stray dog who had seemed to have been hit by a car and was severely injured. The hero strapped the pup onto his back and rode seven miles into town to get help. There, they met a woman named Andrea Shaw, who immediately bonded with the dog and took him to a nearby animal hospital and then brought him home.

Captain Jack, the bullied cat who found a best friend

“I knew that I was ready to adopt a cat, so I starting looking online and at the humane society,” wrote Reddit user @zivajack. “I went to the pound, but it was so sad that I ended up leaving without getting a cat. I went by the local ASPCA the next day to check out their ‘cat room.’ They had a really friendly cat who just crawled up onto my lap and demanded to be petted.

These two rescued beagle brothers who were reunited by fate

“I rescued a beagle from a laboratory,” wrote Reddit user @sankeyr. “He had been in the laboratory for the first four years of his life, never seeing the sun and never setting his paws on fresh grass. He had a tattoo in his ear (the lab put it there) with some letters and numbers. Let’s say it was ABC001. After having him for about three years, my wife and I moved into a bigger house with a huge backyard, and we had always wanted to rescue another dog when we got a bigger house with a backyard. So we went and secured another dog from the laboratory.