Sweet dog lived alone for months after owner died. Now at shelter, she needs home
A “sweet” dog lived alone for months — and now, she struggles at a North Carolina shelter.
Dakota the senior pup is waiting for a fresh start after her previous owner died.
“At 10 years old, she’s already lived through the kind of heartbreak most of us can’t imagine,” the Humane Society of Catawba County wrote May 12 in a Facebook post. “After her owner passed away, she was left behind — alone in a house for months. No family. No comfort. Just the sound of her own breathing and a stranger who dropped off food and water through the fence.”
Dakota needs a new home after a neighbor believes she had survived on her own for at least three months. She landed at the humane society in February and soon became “terrified,” the shelter wrote on its website and in an email to McClatchy News.
“The barking, the chaos, the movement — it all weighs heavy on her,” the animal organization wrote.
Though Dakota gets overstimulated in her kennel, she becomes more comfortable when she goes outside. The shelter said the mixed-breed pup “craves affection,” and it hopes she ends up with a gentle owner.
“She’s the type that would fall asleep with her head on your lap if given the chance,” Kaitlyn Ewing, the shelter’s director of intake, rescue and foster coordination, told McClatchy News via email. “She loves everyone she meets. Dakota is so sweet, but stresses in a kennel. She shouldn’t have to deal with this at 10 years old and (with) everything else she’s been through.”
As Dakota waits for a second chance, the shelter said it has shared her story but hasn’t received any interest.
“She paces, pants and sometimes has GI stress leading to diarrhea on her bad days,” Ewing wrote. “We are doing everything we can here, including extra time outside of the shelter and volunteers giving her extra attention, but she needs out.”
As of May 13, Dakota is available for foster care or adoption in the Hickory area, a roughly 55-mile drive northwest from Charlotte. Details about the shelter’s adoption process can be found at catawbahumane.org.
This story was originally published May 13, 2025 at 12:16 PM with the headline "Sweet dog lived alone for months after owner died. Now at shelter, she needs home."
