The other day, workers at a Dollar Tree in San Antonio, Texas, were surprised to find a dog inside the store. The pup was wandering through the aisles, seemingly unbothered by the fact that he was all alone.
“I don’t know if he needed something at Dollar
Tree, but he decided to go to Dollar Tree and just walked right in,” Lisa Norwood, public relations manager for San Antonio Animal Care Services (San Antonio ACS), told The Dodo.
As the employees observed the dog, they noticed something unusual about him. They noticed that he was having issues with his vision and was bumping into things. He also didn’t look like a stray — he was wearing a bright pink collar and seemed like someone had been taking care of him.
“He obviously had a person at some point,” Norwood said.
The Dollar Tree cashier called San Antonio ACS for help, and they sent out an officer right away. Sometimes, dogs in unfamiliar environments can be reactive, so the officer kept a healthy distance at first. But the officer was surprised to find that the dog, named Stevie, trusted them right away and followed them into the truck without a problem.
The San Antonio ACS team took Stevie to the vet to get his vision issues checked out. Stevie’s doctors confirmed that the pup was blind, and guessed that his condition could be congenital, developmental or the result of a viral infection.
“The vet referred to him in her notes as a friendly boy,” Norwood said.
Regardless of the root cause of Stevie’s blindness, what’s most important is that Stevie is happy and enjoying life. The San Antonio ACS staff were amazed by how bubbly and friendly the pup’s personality was.
“He’s just goofy,” Norwood said.
Despite it seeming like Stevie had a previous owner, the pup sat in the shelter for days without any calls or messages inquiring about his status. For whatever reason, nobody seemed to be looking for him.
Once San Antonio ACS was certain that no one was coming for Stevie, they made him available for adoption, and someone took an interest in him immediately. A woman from outside San Antonio adopted him when he’d been in the shelter for just over a week.
“Stevie made an impression on her, touched her heart,” Norwood said.
The San Antonio ACS staff are grateful that they had the chance to get to know such a sweet, funny dog. Now Stevie will enjoy a lifetime of the love and affection he’s always deserved.
