Dumped Golden Retriever Who Wanted To Stay ‘Invisible’ Breaks Hearts

A social media video that recalls how a woman who found and rescued an abandoned dog from “the middle of nowhere” has tugged at heartstrings across the internet.

The viral video, which had been viewed more than 455,000 times to date, introduced TikTokers to Laury, a dog who had been “seeking comfort” in the shadows of a derelict church.

“I found a scared dog while visiting a small church,” the video’s creator wrote across the post while audiences were shown footage of Laury scouring in the corner of the imposing building.

“He wanted to be invisible,” she added.

Pet abandonment continues to be a serious issue in the U.S. Each year across the country, 6.3 million pets are surrendered to shelters, according to statistics published by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). This can be contextualized as 17,260 animals every day.

The woman, who goes by @PawsCrossedLeb on TikTok, went on to share that the church Laury was found at was in the middle of nowhere. She speculates that he’d been “dumped” nearby. The TikTok video features a montage of a timid Laury slowly getting acquainted with the woman who’d stumbled upon him in the church.

He was said to be hesitant of the new face at first, but the pair swiftly became friends. The woman then attempted to take Laury home with her and rescue him permanently from the forgotten church he’d been living in, but Laury still hadn’t learned to trust the woman and out of panic decided to run away from her and go back to the spot he’d been calling home for an unknown period of time.

The woman later returned for the sandy-colored dog with food and water in tow. She made a makeshift leash out of her handbag strap and with that guided the helpless dog to her car.

TikTokers are then shown videos of Laury playing excitedly in the woman’s home, although the joy is short-lived after the creator focuses her camera in on the pup’s belly which appears to be covered with painful rashes.

“The poor boy was in pain and nobody cared,” she added.

Laury’s savior is now planning to heal him back to health and find a suitable forever home for him. She’s called for donations in the post’s caption, where she’d also clarified that the dog is a neutered pure-bred golden retriever.

“Laury was left behind next to a church that is very very hard to reach. If he wanted to hunt for food, or for a sip of water in this hot weather he would need one hour to reach anywhere! I rarely go to church, I felt it was written in the stars, I was feeling very sad that day after losing two of my rescue dogs in less than 24h,” she wrote.

“Help me get him back to health and find him a good home to love him more than what his past showed him,” she added.

What Do the Comments Say?

Since it was shared to the social media account on August 18 by @PawsCrossedLeb, the TikTok post has been liked by over 86,000 users and commented on more than 1,000 times.

“The way he rolls over because he trusts you and knows you’ll help him,” one user wrote.

“You are such a great person for taking care of this little angel,” another user added.

Newsweek reached out to @PawsCrossedLeb via TikTok for comment.

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