Shelters have been overcrowded with dogs lately. Many people ignore this sad reality, making the situation even worse. 

We all know that a shelter is no place for a dog, even if the conditions there are ideal. Unfortunately, the conditions are far from ideal, which makes this whole situation even more heartbreaking. 

Of course, there are many individual stories from the shelters that directly break the heart. One of them is the story of a Labrador Retriever who had to continue her life in a shelter after many years spent in a loving home. 

Sadly, she is still behind “bars.”

A Heartbreaking Situation

About a year ago, the black Labrador Retriever, Riley, lived a happy life on a large farm with her loving owner. Nothing indicated that the situation could change completely in one day, but unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened.

Riley accidentally injured her paw on the farm, and after that, her owner, who is also an elderly woman, could no longer take care of her. So, she decided to surrender Riley to CoPilot Animal Rescue (CAR) in Sanger, Texas. 

To make matters worse, this dog was lucky to even be accepted into this rescue organization. “We were able to bring Riley into our program, only because a foster stepped up to take her,” CAR wrote in their Facebook post. 

However, given her amazing personality and positive energy, they hoped that this dog would quickly find a new home, but unfortunately, that did not happen. The potential reason is truly heartbreaking.

“She’s had no adoption visits in the one year she’s been here, likely because of Black Dog Syndrome,” a CAR representative told Newsweek. 

Black dog syndrome, or BDS, is sadly a real thing although a bit of a bizarre phenomenon. It is when adopters avoid black dogs in favor of light-colored ones. According to statistics, it negatively affects the adoption rate of black dogs to a great extent. 

Unfortunately, one of the affected dogs is Riley herself, whose adoption is not in sight even after a year. 

She Deserves A New Chance

Despite all the difficulties, for this whole year, CAR employees worked tirelessly to present to the world all the positive traits of this black lab. 

“She loves young kids and really enjoys hugs from babies, she knows to be super gentle!” they wrote in their Facebook post, adding: “She loves snacks, snuggles and other dogs. She does enjoy retrieving things and a good game of fetch!”

They also stated that Riley spends the day lounging around, chewing on her favorite Kong toy, protecting littles from danger, and kindly greeting delivery drivers at the door. 

Aside from that, this amazing dog “uses the doggie door beautifully, gentle around children, and has an overall sweet demeanor.”

Finally, on July 31, 2024, they posted a video on their TikTok profile, @copilotanimalrescue, showing sweet Riley in their shelter in Dallas, Texas, and describing her as the “perfect girl.”

@copilotanimalrescue She deserves a foster or adopter!!! #shelterdogs #meetthedog #dogsoftiktok #shelterpets #foryoupage #dogs #blacklab #labsoftiktok #animalshelter #lookingforahome ♬ I Love You So – The Walters

“She deserves a foster or adopter!!!” they wrote in a video caption. 

We hope that Riley will soon meet her happy ending because this beautiful girl deserves nothing less.