PETOSKEY, Mich. -- Good news for Eastwood, the last dog left at a northern Michigan shelter after an "Empty the Shelter" weekend event – he's going home with a loving new family.
More than 80 applications came in forEastwood, a disabled dog at the Little Traverse Bay Humane Society, after his plight was shared on the organization's Facebook page and made national news. WXMI visited Eastwood Tuesday, just hours after he was officially adopted. Next week, employees say he'll be moving in with a family from Detroit.
On Tuesday, calls continued to pour in from people across the country who wanted to adopt Eastwood.
"It was absolutely astounding," said Jessica Evans, who handles marketing with the Little Traverse Bay Humane Society. "I’ve been here for nearing four years and I’ve never seen anything like it."
About an hour after the shelter's Facebook post Monday afternoon, Evans said they started receiving dozens of messages, calls and applications for Eastwood.
"Our answering machine was absolutely chalked full; it was a little overwhelming," she said.
Eastwood, a sweet 1-year-old red lab, was born with a deformed back leg. Veterinarians told shelter employees that he'll likely need surgery later which could cost upwards of $4,000.
"It’s hard to imagine that he was just found as a stray, such a great dog," said Evans. "We’re kind of thinking due to his health issues that possibly he was owned by somebody and he was just dumped."
Saturday, the Bissell Pet Foundation paid for adoption fees in its record-breaking Empty the Shelters event. More than 2,500 animals were adopted across 65 Michigan shelters and rescues, according to their officials.
In June, Evans says they will be holding another event when adoption fees will be lowered.
"While he’s an amazing and wonderful dog, there’s still so many animals that need homes across the country," said Evans. "I’m hoping for this to give people the opportunity to consider other animals that need homes just as much as Eastwood [did]."