Dumped 14 year old dog finally gets released to dog rescue’s care after negligent family could not decide to reclaim or reject the dog when it was found wondering the streets confused and alone: ‘Now he needs rehabilitation and a home!’

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Feb 11, 2026 3:00 PM EST

You might have thought that when a dog is abandoned or dumped that the last thing that the person who left the dog behind would want is to reconnect with the dog. But that is exactly what happened to the senior pupper in this story.

14 years, it is a long time to spend together even as hoomans. For a dog it is pretty much their whole life and in many cases surpasses a full canine lifetime. But when those sunset years came calling for this dog, its family decided that enough was enough and in their version of putting him out to pasture they dumped him in a city 40 minutes away from home. You know, lest he return to them like a ghost who has come to haunt them. It is a devastating way to have a pupper leave your life, mainly for the dog.

But when this sweet canine soul was found by a local dog rescue, things took a turn for the weird. As the initial call with the family who dumped him confirmed their abandonment. But then a second call asked for the dog's return. Which, even more confusingly, was followed up with a third call, calling for the release of the dog into the rescue's care. Can we claim to understand the complex inner workings of the hooman psyche, no. should they have just dropped the poor dog off at the shelter, yes.
 

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  • 01
    Pri OM "Now we're back to square one."
    via nagumi
  • 02
    This is Simba. He's 14 years old and was found wandering, confused and dehydrated. When we called his owner, we
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    were told that they drove 40 minutes to leave him in our area so "the city would take care of it." Now he needs rehabilitation and a home!
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  • 04
    I'm so angry... how could someone do this to such an old, wonderful soul? Our nonprofit has decided to take him on (instead of letting the city put him down) and it's gonna cost us hundreds of dollars...
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  • 05
    We're willing to help and we don't even know this dog! How could the family he was loyal to for 14 years just dump him on the street?? I don't understand this world.
    via nagumi

  • Yep, that pretty much sums up how we, and we imagine you, feel about this story so far. What in the heckin heck could cause someone to do something so vile. First to dump the dog is a terrible thing to do, especially after 14 years together. But then to do so in a completely different city is just beyond cruel to the dog. While also being really rather wasteful of the resources of the organization that would end up having to rescue and pay to bring the pupper back to decent health. It truly makes our soul weep to know that there are people out there who would willing treat a pupper like this. 

  • 06
    So all was good - as good as can be expected. Simba was safe, got some much needed vaccines (Rabies and DHLPP) and a flea/tick treatment (he was COVERED in them!) We even found a girl through facebook
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  • 07
    who wanted to adopt him! She drove all the way from tel aviv (45 mins) to pick him up and as she arrived we get a call from the head of our nonprofit. The family who abandoned him traced the original
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  • 08
    call the vet made about the microchip via caller ID and asked him where their dog was, and he told them (I don't blame him for this). They called us and started making threats that we stole their dog, that they'd call the cops...
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    Meanwhile, the girl who wanted to adopt Simba is standing there holding him! The trouble was, they technically still had a legal claim to Simba, and we had no ironclad proof
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    that they abandoned him (the original call in which they admitted it was not recorded). They were now claiming that he ran away yesterday (later corrected to friday) and "AS must have taken him to Jerusalem."....
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    So after consulting our attorneys, we made the uncomfortable decision to give them back 'their' dog after they paid medical expenses and pursue all legal avenues with the police and the courts to get the
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  • Wow, this must have been such a tough thing to do. After all the effort you have put into making sure this dog is safe and that nothing like this will ever happen to the dog again, you are confronted with returning the dog to the very people who caused this situation in the first place. It must have ripped this poor volunteer’s heart into a million pieces. It is literally having to give in to everything that you wish to stand against in this world. We can only hope that with the support of law enforcement something is done to save this pupper for a life of misery. 

  • 12
    dog removed properly. This was our only option. So I begrudgingly call them to arrange a meet (at a neutral location in public, as I was frankly scared). When I call they say "So tell me... if we leave the dog with you will you find him
    via nagumi
  • 13
    a good home?" -??? So now they want to give up the dog? Okay... I had them send me a signed letter along with a copy of their ID in which they permanently give up
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  • 14
    OM BITT שבי מדיקל. נעים TEVA Medical
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    any future claim to Simba. Now the dog is legally the 'property' (not the best word, but the correct one legally) of JLA (our nonprofit). In the meantime, the girl that came to adopt him had already left. to drive back to her
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    home, heartbroken! Poor girl came to adopt a dog, met the dog and 90 seconds later had the dog taken away from her, then 20 minutes after that is told that she can take the dog again. She's confused and hurt. She may come
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    back to adopt Simba (I hope she does), but if not I'll understand. Here's what I think happened: I think that the family dumped the dog, as the father originally said. I think that the (adult) kids, who I
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    spoke with, are generally good people but that the father is... mentally deficient. The father is in his 70's and apparently (according to his son) not totally lucid. I think the father made an irrational, immoral decision
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    and dumped the dog (rather than what his son claims - that the dog ran away and that his dad made up the story about dumping Simba in his confusion). I think that the son is covering for his dad
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    while simultaneously realizing that Simba is better off with a new family. I can understand the son not wanting his father prosecuted. I can also understand the son not wanting Simba to come home to such a clearly inept
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    household. The son seemed like a genuinely good person... Now we're back to square one. Simba still needs a home, but with this letter at least we're in the clear legally. He's gotten his vaccines
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    and a flea/tick treatment, so in 48 hours I'll give him a nice bath. I want to thank all you redditors for your kind donations - about 75% of his vaccine shots have been covered by you guys (vaccines are about 400 shekels,
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    which is about $99US. Flea treatment was $15. You kind internet folk have donated $75 thus far). Soon he'll need a dental treatment, which should cost somewhere between $250-$400
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    depending on how many teeth he needs pulled. Along with the teeth cleaning, we'll neuter him (not sure about the cost of that if it's performed under the same anesthesia as the teeth cleaning). He'll also need bl. d tests before
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    surgery (another $100 or so). Anyway, I promised updates. This story is long and complicated, but yeah... I typed this all at 1:30am, so please excuse any run on sentences and such.
    via nagumi
  • 26
    Obviously, with Simba's future still unclear, we're still collecting donations for him and for the dozens of other cats and dogs we're looking for homes for. We're a no-k | non-profit organization with a 100% volunteer staff
    via nagumi

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street old dogs found care rejection reddit story confused neglect family dog story released alone rehabilitation wondering dumped Dog Rescue
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