Zoe was waiting, tied to the gate, when dawn broke at the El Campito shelter in Monte Grande, Argentina.
Beside her was a bag of dog food and a handwritten letter. Her owner, a retiree who receives the minimum pension, said he had moved into a studio apartment where the landlord doesn’t allow dogs and that he could no longer keep her. “I love her very much”, he wrote. And further down, burdened by doubt: “I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing, but it’s the only thing I could think of”.
He had her since Zoe was 45 days old. Today she is 11 years and nine months old, and she is very playful: according to the shelter director, Sergio Moragues, “she doesn’t seem like she’s 11 years old”. No one knows who the man is or where he lives.
The shelter dedicated a message to him: “We don’t know your name, but we want you to know that we don’t judge you. We understand your pain”. Now they are trying to find him to arrange a reunion or, if that isn’t possible, find Zoe a home near him so they won’t be separated for life.