A Pennsylvania woman has shared heartwarming footage of the moment staff at her local Starbucks serenaded her dog with a rendition of “Happy Birthday.”
Mollie Kester from Wilkes-Barre pulled out all the stops for her Chihuahua Chili’s eighth birthday this year. “We decorated the house and had a photo shoot,” Kester told Newsweek. “We also took Chili to a local dog bakery and got him a cake and got him some new toys!”
Kester is one of the many in the U.S. pulling out all the stops to celebrate their pet’s big day. In a survey of 2,000 cat and dog owners conducted by SWNS on behalf of Zesty Paws, 57 percent of respondents admitted to spoiling their pets “24/7” with 44 percent going as far as hosting birthday parties for their four-legged friends.
Kester has more reason than most to want to celebrate Chili being in her life, given the role he’s played in helping her through some difficult times. “I got Chili in 2016 right after my Dad passed away,” she said. “I wasn’t looking for a dog but I ended up meeting him and I never put him down. He quickly took over my life.”
To Kester there was something different about Chili. “He’s special,” she said. “So pure and sweet and not like most Chihuahuas.” Since then, Chili has been joined by two more Chihuahua siblings who joined the family as rescues and have been keeping Kester and her husband busy ever since.
Mollie Kester
“They love car rides. Stealing socks. Food. They always want food,” she said. “They love going through drive-thrus, especially Starbucks. They love love and attention and getting a whipped cream treat.”
A visit to the Starbucks drive thru has become something of a birthday tradition for Chili in recent years. It all began back in 2021, during an encounter with Melissa, a barista at the Wilkes Barre Starbucks who took a shine to Chili and his adorable birthday hat.
“I was having the worst day,” Kester said. “She was amazing and through that she and I became friendly.” Since then every year, for the past four years, Chili has stopped by on his birthday for an extra special pup cup.
“They just go above and beyond and love him so much,” Kester said. “We go visit them a lot. Not just for his birthday.”
The most recent of these birthday trips might rank among the most memorable for both Kester and Chili. Driving up to the window, Kester was shocked to see five members of staff waiting to sing “Happy Birthday” as they handed over his birthday pup cup.
Chili was a bag of nervous excitement throughout the video. “He can’t contain his shakes in the drive thru,” said Kester.
Mollie Kester
His delighted reaction was only matched by his owner’s similarly emotional response. She said it had been a complete surprise. “I had messaged Melissa to say we were going to stop by that day but that’s it. It was all them surprising him,” she said.
Luckily, Kester was quick off the mark to film what unfolded to send to her mom who couldn’t be there with them that day. The resulting clip was uploaded to TikTok under the handle itchybuttmuffin where it’s been watched 4.8 million times already.
“It was amazing,” Kester said. “I wanted to cry! The world needs more people like them. Chili is special and it’s awesome to know he spreads joy to so many people.”
Newsweek contacted Starbucks for comment via email.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to [email protected] with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.