A woman who paid a visit to a dog at a shelter in Chicago has shared heartbreaking footage of the moment the animal caught sight of the world outside and the life he once knew.
Katie Markovic was visiting Chicago Animal Care and Control (CACC) with her daughter when it was suggested they meet Clifton, a big dog with an even-bigger heart.
Markovic told Newsweek: “A volunteer named Sarah said he was a staff favorite and brought him out for my daughter and I to see and interact with and give him a break from his kennel.”
Aged somewhere between 1 and 3, the large pit bull terrier proved an instant hit with Markovic’s 12-year-old.
The mom spoke in glowing terms about Clifton, describing him as “such an easygoing dog.” “He was so gentle with my 12 year old,” Markovic said. “He was so content to just hang out with us.”
A little love can go a long way with a shelter dog. A 2018 study published in the journal Applied Animal Behavior Science found just 15 minutes of one-on-one petting was enough to boost the overall well-being of a shelter pup.
Yet their encounter with Clifton that day ended up being tinged with sadness. As he made his way around the room, Clifton appeared to catch sight of the world outside through one of the windows.
For a moment, he was transfixed, looking out at a world he once knew. It was a moment Markovic caught on camera in a video posted to her TikTok @hera_malinois. Watching on alongside her daughter, the mom wrote that it seemed like Clifton was “remembering a world he has been missing” as he looked out of the window that day.
Clifton arrived at CACC as a stray on September 25. As a result, very little is known about his past or the life he once knew.
But watching on, knowing what potentially lay ahead for Clifton, Markovic said she felt compelled to take action. She posted the video of Clifton’s staring off into the distance to TikTok in the hope it might cajole someone to take action and adopt him before it was too late.
“At an open-intake shelter with limited space, that’s a scary amount of time,” Markovic wrote alongside the footage. “He’s so gentle, so friendly, treat-soft, was great with my 12 year old, the kind of dog who shouldn’t be overlooked. But he will be if he doesn’t get the attention he deserves…”
The clip garnered plenty of attention, with animal lovers flocking to comment on the clip. “Oh Lord I pray that Clifton gets rescued. That picture of him at the end was heartbreaking,” one user wrote.
“Someone get this baby,” another user commented, with a third writing: “Hope this baby finds a home for Christmas!”
Call it a Christmas miracle, divine intervention or just the positive power of social media, but someone was listening. Markovic told Newsweek the good news: “I just got word he was adopted within the last few days.”
After months looking out on a world he once knew, now Clifton is back among it and looking forward to a happy Christmas in a new forever home.