Andrés was only 12 years old when he made a decision no child should ever have to make. His father abused his pit bull puppy, hitting him and planning to sell him. So one night in February 2020, in Mexico, he and his mother secretly took him out of the house.
They left him outside the Xollin Shelter, in Teotihuacán, State of Mexico, with his favorite stuffed animal and a handwritten letter explaining everything: the abuse, the fear, the tail injured by kicks. He asked that someone give the dog, named René, the love they could not give him in their own home.
The shelter took him to the veterinarian, treated his fracture and parasites, and the story went viral with more than 300 adoption requests from around the world. However, the outcome was different from what many imagined: six years later, René is still living happily at that same shelter, having become part of the family.
