Kris Robinson was working in 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 instructed the dog to stay outside, and she simply sat down," Robinson, the shelter's interim director, told The Dodo. "He came in and said, 'Could you please take my dog?'"
The shelter was full, but Robinson could see the teen needed assistance and a little luck.
Robinson saw her father's attachment to the puppy called Jada, so she wrote down his information and had him fill out a relinquishment form.
"She really clung to him," Robinson recalled. "He was kind of walking around, and she was holding to his leg." "She'd come near to him and sit down because she was afraid."
As he moved away from the shelter, Robinson spotted the adolescent wiping his face. Robinson brought Jada into the office to unwind, but she was plainly perplexed as to why her father was not present.
"She got on one of the chairs and peered out the window," Robinson explained. "I walked in the back to clean, and when I looked on her, she was simply resting there with her meal."
The next day, Jada felt more at comfortable with 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. She had no clue how much attention her message would get.
"I just wanted to highlight what this child did and his character," Robinson explained. "He didn't ask for anything — he simply wanted to make sure [Jada] was well." Offers to foster the dog started pouring in from all across the country, but Robinson believed they could do better.
Robinson phoned a local family, who volunteered to take in the youngster and his dog, but the boy rejected.
"I had contacted him and told him, 'Look, these folks want to assist you,'" Robinson explained. "'What do you mean?' he asked. Do they plan on adopting her? 'May I see her first?' 'No, buddy, they want to assist you,' I responded.
It was a very joyous reunion when the adolescent and his family arrived at the shelter to pick up Jada. "She charged up to him and leapt on him," Robinson explained. "He was simply adoring her with a big ol' smile on his face."
Jada and her father have finally found a home that they can call their own — together. Jada is receiving the medical care she needed, allowing the adolescent to focus on his academics.
"He's finishing up high school, and then he's going to take some classes at a local municipal college and go to the dentist - things he's never done before," Robinson explained.