A dog’s heartbreaking reaction after being found abandoned at an Oklahoma gas station has been captured on camera.
Desiderata Rescue is owned and operated by Miriam Kelly. The rescue is based in Oklahoma but also adopts and fosters dogs in Washington and Oregon. Kelly posted the devastating footage of the abandoned dog to the rescue’s TikTok @desideratarescue. It has already been watched over 151,000 times.
The clip was captured by a local resident who lives nearby and has assisted Kelly in the past with abandoned dogs in the area. The footage captures the moment she first came across the canine who would later be christened “Moon” by Kelly “because of her little howl.” In the video, Moon can be heard letting out that heartbreaking howl. It’s the cry of a dog scared, alone and somewhere entirely alien to them.
“People dump dogs all over the place, but my guess is that this specific gas station was chosen because the store portion is not in operation so it’s just pumps for self-services with no employees around,” Kelly told Newsweek. “It is on a highway out of town with no homes or businesses close by. So it’s a perfect place for someone who wants to dump a dog and not be caught.”
Strays like Moon make up the majority of cats and dogs entering animal shelters. Sixty percent of felines and canines entering shelters in 2024 were strays, according to data published by the ASPCA.
Kelly said that, in her experience, there is a “terrible culture” when it comes to pets in Oklahoma.
“People don’t fix their pets and then have ‘accidental’ litters,” she said. “Also, there are a lot of backyard breeders that breed intentionally. People consider dogs tools for their ranch or for hog hunting, etc. and discard them when they are no longer useful.”
Kelly said she is keen to stress that Oklahoma is not alone in facing these kinds of problems. “It is becoming a nationwide problem, though, and I fear we have reached a tipping point,” she added. “Rescues are shutting down daily because they don’t have enough funding and support. ”
Kelly doesn’t know what the future holds for organizations such as Desiderata Rescue, but she is determined to do right by dogs like Moon. The good news so far is that she is settling in well to her new surroundings.
“She is doing great. She is the sweetest girl,” Kelly said. “She is currently still a little dominant when it comes to sharing food with other dogs, but that is pretty normal behavior for dogs that were starved and didn’t have regular access to food. She has been very friendly and playful with dogs of all sizes and is also great with cats.”
Moon will eventually be available for adoption, but, for now, Kelly is focusing on getting her back to full health. “Since we don’t know her background, the assumption is that she has not received any vetting in her life, so I am treating her that way,” Kelly said. “She is on a 14-day hold to ensure she doesn’t break with parvo but, after that, she will be spayed and fully vetted and available for adoption out of state.”
The hope is that, in time, those sad howls will be replaced by something a little more joyful. Given how much Kelly and social media has invested in Moon’s story so far, that shouldn’t be a case of if, but rather when.