Shelter Dog Is ‘36 Pounds of Cuteness,’ Yet Faces the Unthinkable Over Something He Can’t Control

This Instagram video shows Gill sitting in his shelter kennel, wagging his tail and moving his ears back and forth while a volunteer stops to say hello. The 5-year-old shelter dog looks cheerful enough in the clip shared by @hlh2371, which makes his situation even harder to understand.

Gill was adopted, but his adopters reportedly kept tripping over him because of his short build, so he is being returned to the shelter. Now, with the shelter already out of kennel space, this sweet little guy is facing a very real risk simply because his previous home could not work around his size.

Shelter dog returned to the shelter for no fault of his own faces the risk of losing his life

Gill spends most of the video doing exactly what a dog waiting for attention would do. He sits behind the kennel door and watches the volunteer filming him. He gives that person plenty of tail wags in return. His ears keep shifting back and forth. The furry baby looks genuinely pleased to have some company.

According to the post, Gill was adopted and house-trained. He also knows how to use a doggy door. He is friendly with other dogs. But his adopters kept tripping over him and decided he needed to be returned. The reason is especially frustrating because Gill cannot change the thing that caused the issue. He has a short, Corgi-like build and weighs about 36.5 pounds. He is simply built close to the ground.

Now he is back at Newberry County Animal Shelter in South Carolina. The post says the shelter is completely full and out of kennels. That puts every dog there in a difficult position. This is especially true for dogs who still need medical care. Moreover, it also affects dogs who need more time to find the right home.

Gill is also heartworm positive. He has already started doxycycline, and the shelter volunteer network plans to help with his treatment. The video has collected more than 3,900 likes. Viewers are clearly struggling to understand how this could happen. In the meantime, Gill’s future depends on somebody seeing past the reason he was returned and choosing to give this shelter dog another chance.