Woman adopts dog who has been in shelter for 7 years — gets remarkable sign that it’s meant to be

All shelter dogs dream of finding their forever home, some wait years before getting adopted. Sometimes it takes time to find just the right new owner.

When one woman visited a shelter and met a dog who had been waiting 7 years to find a home, she noticed a remarkable sign and knew it was destined to be.

Animal Resource Center, a nonprofit shelter in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, recently shared an “extremely special adoption” story — they said you might want to “grab a tissue” as the story might just put a tear in your eye.

A dog named Ella had been with them for 7 years, and was their longest resident. She had been adopted and returned twice. After so long, everyone wondered if Ella would ever find a home.

But last month, they got an email from a woman named Kaitlyn, who said she was interested in adopting Ella. It was an email they had long been waiting for, and they quickly scheduled an appointment for the two to meet.

Kaitlyn told the shelter staff that her own dog, Jo, had passed away a few months ago, and she was ready to open her heart to a new rescue pet.

Kaitlyn and Ella hit it off right away: the shelter said that the “fear aggression” Ella often exhibits when meeting new people was not present while meeting Kaitlyn.

“She immediately walked over to Kaitlyn with no hesitation, allowing her to give Ella scratches and pets right away,” they wrote on Facebook.

If it wasn’t clear enough that the two were meant to be together, Kaitlyn got a very special sign that proved it was destiny. She noticed that the shelter dog was wearing a bandana around her neck that looked eerily familiar.

May be an image of 1 person and dog — Facebook/Animal Resource Center

She suddenly realized the bandana used to belong to her deceased dog, Jo. “This bandana that Ella is wearing, it’s Jo’s,” she told the staff with tears in her eyes. “I donated them all here when he passed.”

There are 20 dogs at Animal Resource Center, but Jo’s bandana happened to go to Ella — it was a sign from above that it was meant to be. “I like to think of it as Jo’s stamp of approval,” Kaitlyn said.

It’s always bittersweet to say goodbye to a shelter dog who has been with you for so many years: the staff wrote that they will miss the way Ella would “pop up off her bed” every morning to greet them. But they’re thrilled that Ella has finally found such a loving home.