When Orange County Animal Services (OCAS) staff signed up for a mega adoption event last month, they instantly knew which residents to bring along. They knew a couple of litters of puppies and some small, hypoallergenic dogs would pull potential adopters in — but they truly hoped to find their longest and oldest residents, like a pittie mix named Baby Girl, forever homes.
Baby Girl first became an OCAS resident in February 2024 after a Good Samaritan noticed her in a dangerous predicament.
“[S]omeone watched a timid dog try and cross a busy interstate,” OCAS wrote on Facebook. “They were able to stop the dog and get her inside their car, possibly saving her life.”
The Good Samaritan rushed Baby Girl to OCAS’s headquarters, where a team of dedicated rescuers welcomed her with open arms.
After a few reassuring head pats, Baby Girl let the team give her a thorough checkup. On top of being a healthy 9-year-old pup, OCAS staff quickly learned how loving she was.
“She is sweet and gentle with people, and has shared her space with other dogs,” OCAS wrote on Facebook. “We don’t know anything about her past life or how long she was a stray. But we do know one thing: [S]he deserves better than spending her senior years inside our kennels.”
OCAS promised to find Baby Girl a permanent home, but in the meantime, they decided to find a temporary solution to the noisy shelter problem. A doting volunteer, Su Morrison, had fallen in love with Baby Girl, and she agreed to foster her.
Baby Girl’s time in foster care was everything she could’ve hoped for. She’d traded in her loud kennel for a quiet home with toys and comfy beds to nap in. Her foster parents were instantly smitten with the sweet girl.
“Having Baby in our home … it’s a pleasure,” Morrison wrote to OCAS, later shared on Facebook. “The longer she stays, the more we see what an absolute goofball she is. She is such a happy girl.”
Weeks became months, and Baby Girl still couldn’t find a permanent family, making her one of OCAS’s longest residents. That’s when the staff decided to take her to the adoption event in May, hoping one of the thousands of visitors would take her home.
At the adoption event, however, everyone walked right past Baby Girl without giving her a second thought. The depressed pup watched from her kennel as visitors walked by without even acknowledging her.
You can watch that moment here:
By the end of the weekend, 58 OCAS residents had been adopted. Sadly, Baby Girl was not one of them.
“No one is lining up outside for hours for this sweet girl. No one is fighting for her,” OCAS wrote. “No one is begging to adopt her, and it’s heartbreaking.”
Baby Girl went back to her foster home feeling defeated and hopeless about her future. Then, she received the perfect adoption application: Her foster mom wanted to keep her.
Baby Girl was officially adopted on June 11, 2024, by her foster mom, and she’s been loving life ever since. Now, the sweet girl spends her days going on walks or car rides with her new favorite humans — and neither party would have it any other way.
“Another foster fail, another happy dog,” Morrison wrote in a Facebook comment.
