Tears Shed Over Moment 'Starved and Neglected' Foster Puppy Finds Voice

A woman has shared the moment her foster puppy barked for the first time in her care.

The TikTok clip captioned: "When your foster finds there voice!" has racked up over 808,000 views since it was shared on November 14.

The heartwarming video shows a skin and bone puppy lapping up the love from carer Viviana, who uses the handle @wolfpack8722. Then he barks leaving Viviana in complete shock.

"When did you start barking?" she asks in the audio. In the comment section, she highlights how much of a big deal it is. To watch the video, click here.

She wrote: "For him to even move without being scared was a big deal. I was shocked."

She told another user: "Someone was so mean to him," and explained he was "starved and neglected," so seeing his progress made Viviana's day.

In another comment, she admits it is going to be tough to let him go, wrinting: "How am I supposed to adopt him out?"

A group of researchers from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and Arizona State University looked into canine foster caregiving at 19 U.S. animal shelters during the first four months of the coronavirus pandemic.

From March 11 to June 30, 2020, 1,155 dogs and 323 puppies were placed into foster care, and 747 dogs were fostered by potential adopters at 19 animal shelters, a total of 2,225 animals.

The results showed that over 93 percent of the dogs had a positive outcome and found a forever home. The caregivers who had no prior relationship with the shelter were four times more likely to adopt their fostered dogs than those with a pre-existing relationship to the shelter. Almost three-quarters of foster carers adopted their dogs.

Viviana is being encouraged by other TikTok users to keep the boxer mix breed. So far, the clip has 152,800 likes and over 1,000 comments.

One user said: "[It] would be an immediate foster fail for me."

Another said: "I just cried because of your love for that baby."

"It's easier to find your voice and be your best self when surrounded by love. That's all I see here," said another user.

Each year, 6.3 million pets are surrendered to U.S. shelters, which is an average of 17,260 a day, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The number of dogs and cats taken in by pet shelters hit 46,807 during January 2023, an increase of 1,744 compared with January 2022, the 24Pet 'Shelter Watch Report' found. Around 920,000 surrendered animals are euthanized every year. Shelters are striving to minimize euthanasia rates by promoting adoption campaigns, spaying and neutering programs, and behavior rehabilitation.

Newsweek reached out to @wolfpack8722 for comment via TikTok. We couldn't verify the details of the case.

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