Like many senior dogs, sometimes they have a hard time finding forever homes, and gray-muzzled Star was no different at Memphis Animal Services.
He'd spent three months there, mostly in Director Alexis Pugh's office, before perhaps the perfect suitor arrived to take him home. The adoption inspired a lovely goodbye that's since gone viral on TikTok.
More than 3.5 million people watched the sweet sendoff, in which the shelter staff formed an applauding guard of honor to wish him good luck in his new life. It's punctuated by Star's face-to-face moment with Pugh, who had spent most of the previous three months with the sweet, floofy boy.
"To me, it was a very, just, organic moment where I was saying goodbye to my friend," Pugh says
On Feb. 8 a woman arrived interested in Star. She was a veterinary technician at the black dog's old clinic and had recognized him on social media. At first, Pugh didn't realize she was interested in taking Star home, telling her how difficult it had been to find him an adopter.
"I lost it," Pugh says. "I mean, just tears pouring down my face."
Not only was Star going home with someone who knew him, she's married to a veterinarian and splits her time between two farms. He now has acres of space and some new siblings for his older years.
"This dog hit the jackpot," Pugh says.