Family abandons dog because she ‘wasn’t happy anymore’ and comes to get new dog

When employees of a shelter near Los Angeles picked up a 2-year-old German shepherd, they first assumed she was a stray.

They started easing her into the shelter, calling her Zuzu and doing what they call “dog intros,” said Desi Lara, who has been volunteering at the Downey Animal Care Center for seven years, according to BuzzFeed.

“We got interrupted by a distracted and overly excited Zuzu,” Lara wrote on a Facebook post on Monday. “With her fast-wagging tail seeing her owners, Zuzu lit up like a Christmas tree. She looked like the happiest dog. Yeah, she’s going home.”

Another volunteer told BuzzFeed it was obvious in the way Zuzu responded to the people, who were sticking their hands through the fence, petting her and talking to her, that she knew them. But when Lara asked if they were here to reclaim Zuzu, they said no.

“Talking to her owners they told me they were not here to reclaim her, they were getting another dog,” Lara wrote on Facebook. “Zuzu’s father another GSD (German shepherd) had just passed away and Zuzu was crying and heartbroken.”

“Their reason was because she was crying and sad since her father passed away. She wasn’t a happy dog anymore.”

Lara told BuzzFeed she wasn’t sure if the family had actually left with another dog. But they did not take Zuzu home.

Many of the comments on the Facebook post said the former owners should not be allowed to adopt another pet and asked how they could help the young dog. Luckily, Zuzu should get a happy ending.

“A rescue has agreed to take Zuzu and she will be leaving Downey on Friday, which is the first day that she is legally allowed to be adopted,” Lara wrote in an update to the Facebook post.

Many people have already commented on Zuzu’s shelter post looking to adopt her.

“[I was] honestly sad but glad,” Lara told BuzzFeed. “I knew the rescues who come to [the shelter] would find her a good home where she would be a family member.”

This story was originally published November 30, 2016 at 5:26 AM with the headline "Family abandons dog because she ‘wasn’t happy anymore’ and comes to get new dog."