Emotional Facebook Photo Inspires Well-Wishers to Donate $400 to Free Dog

By Kelli Bender Feb 20th 2013

The nice guys of social networking strike again. According to KABC-TV, animal lover Dave Thomas was reunited with his impounded dog because of a few Good Samaritan Facebook users.


Thomas was arrested last Friday in his California home for failure to appear in court over two traffic violations. Authorities also called animal control to remove the man's two-year-old Pit Bull mix named Buzz from the property and bring him to a nearby shelter.

After Thomas resolved his legal issues, he went to the shelter in an attempt to pick up Buzz. Workers told him that the dog was considered a stray and that over $400 in fees would be required to release him. Thomas only had $6 and was told if he couldn't come up with half of the fee by mid-week Buzz would probably be euthanized.

Heartbroken and dejected, Thomas sat down by Buzz's cage and shared what he thought would be one of his last moments with his best friend. Photographer Maria Sanchez, who was visiting the shelter, happened to see the tender moment and captured it on her camera.


"He was pouring water into his dog's water bowl, his dog sat there and licked up the water for about a minute, he sat down next to him and started weeping," Sanchez told KABC-TV.

Sanchez posted the picture and Thomas' story to Facebook, and soon numerous offers to pay for the dog's release were posted in the comments. With more than enough donations to spring Buzz, Sanchez just had on final task: Find Thomas.

The photographer began posting fliers around the area of the shelter in hopes of locating the man. Finally, with the help of a local news team, Thomas was located and given the good news. Thanks to over $2,000 donated by total strangers, Buzz would be released, vetted and micro-chipped for Thomas. The pair have since been reunited all thanks to a simple Facebook post and handful of animal-loving do-gooders.

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