Copyright newsweek
A shelter dog could barely contain his excitement at being let out of his kennel, even though it was only to go for a short walk. Brutus the shelter dog captured attention online after a clip of him appearing “so grateful” at being let out to stretch his legs was posted to Instagram. The footage was captured by Merve Gurses, a volunteer at Fulton County Animal Services in Georgia, who created the account From Pits to Peaches to highlight the plight of dogs like Brutus. “In the shelter he always seemed so grateful when he was around people but he was struggling quite a bit being in the kennel. You could see kennel stress was starting to get to him,” Gurses told Newsweek. “Once he saw someone’s leash come out, everything changed and he turned into his wiggly self.” Megan Jones from the LifeLine Animal Project at Fulton County Animal Services concurred with this assessment. “He showed some signs of kennel stress while at the shelter,” Jones told Newsweek. “It looks like from his notes he had a good amount of time out of his kennel with volunteers.” Little surprise then that Brutus cherished his time out of the kennel. Research has highlighted the role human interaction can play in helping reduce stress levels among shelter dogs. A 2020 study published in the journal Animals saw scientists draw a parallel between how social partners can reduce glucocorticoid responses in the laboratory-guided studies and how human interaction can have similarly positive effects on shelter dogs. What’s important to understand about Brutus, however, is the heartbreak and rejection he had already suffered in his life up until that point. Brutus the dog attracted attention from followers of the shelter’s Instagram page.. According to Gurses, Brutus was first found and brought to the shelter back in March 2024, by a Good samaritan named Maddy Marsh, who found him tied up out the back of an abandoned house. He was brought to Fulton County Animal Services where it looked like his luck would soon change. Brutus’s happy demeanor soon attracted adopter intention and he was adopted within a couple of months. Sadly, it did not last, with Jones confirming Brutus was returned to them in September of this year as an “owner surrender.” “The adopters didn’t give a reason as to why he was brought back,” she said. Despite being back among familiar and friendly human faces, Brutus’s situation soon took a dramatic turn when he was placed on the shelter’s “urgent” list. By then, however, Gurses and several other volunteers had swung into action, creating the video for Instagram that highlighted his joy at simply being let out for a walk. The insinuation was clear: imagine how he would feel to be free and happy in a new forever home. It had the desired effect. “Someone from Massachusetts reached out wanting to adopt him,” Jones said. Brutus was adopted out of state soon after, with his story serving as another reminder of the positive power of social media. “Every healthy animal at LifeLine deserves a second chance. We do everything we can to ensure that our animals are given every opportunity to have a positive outcome, but we can’t do it without the community’s help,” Jones said. “We are overjoyed by each happy ending, especially when someone travels miles to give an animal a loving home.” Gurses added: “Shelters are full of incredible dogs who are just waiting for someone to see them, really see them, for who they are. Brutus was one of those dogs. Behind his happy, tippy-tappy paws was a heart slowly breaking from the stress of shelter life. “Yet the spark was still there, especially whenever he saw someone approaching his kennel with a leash. My hope is that people give dogs like Brutus a chance before that spark fades. Sometimes, all they need is to be seen.”
