Kris Robinson was at the main office of the Senatobia-Tate County Animal Shelter when she noticed someone strolling across the yard. A dog kept a careful eye on the young man.
‘He told the dog to stay outdoors, and she just sat down,’ said Robinson, the shelter’s interim director. “I’m hoping if you could take my dog,” he remarked as he came in.
Robinson noticed her father’s attachment to the puppy, Jada, so she wrote down his information and had him fill out a relinquishment form. ‘She really clung to him,’ Robinson said.
‘He was kind of walking around, and she was holding to his leg.’ ‘She’d go up close and personal with him and sit down — she was terrified.’
As she moved away from the shelter, Robinson spotted the teen wiping his face. Robinson brought Jada into the office to unwind, but she was curious as to why her father was not present.
‘She sat in one of the seats and gazed out the window,’ Robinson recalled. ‘I walked into the rear to do some cleaning, and when I came out, she was simply resting there with her meal,’ she said.
The next day, Jada felt more at comfortable around Robinson, but Robinson recognized that no one could ever replace her father.
She decided to publish the dog’s story on Facebook in the hopes of garnering some local assistance. However, she had no idea how much attention her message would get.
‘I wanted to draw attention to what this kid did as well as his character,’ Robinson added. ‘He didn’t want anything for himself; all he wanted to do was make sure [Jada] was okay.’
Offers to foster the dog started pouring in from all over the country, but Robinson was confident that they could do better. Robinson reached out to a nearby family, who volunteered to take in the young man and his dog, but the young man declined.
‘I got in touch with him and told him, ‘Look, these guys want to help you,” Robinson explained. ”What do you mean?’ he asked. Are they interested in adopting her? Is it possible for me to see her first?’ ‘No, friend, they want to help you,’ I said.
It was a very happy reunion when the teen and his family arrived at the shelter to pick up Jada.
Robinson stated, ‘She ran up to him and got up on him.’ ‘He was simply adoring her and wearing a big ol’ grin on his face.’
Jada and her father have finally found their own space — together. Jada is getting the medical help she needs, and the kid can focus on his studies. ‘He’s getting his high school stuff in order, and then he’s going to take some community college classes and go to the dentist,’ Robinson added.