Heartbroken dog reunites with owners but owners prefer another dog

Desi Lara, a volunteer in the Downer Animal Care Centre (DACC), shared on Facebook a video of a heartbroken dog that the centre picked up after it was reported as stray. The dog named Zuzu was barking and wagging its tail as its owners turned up on the other side of the fence.

Lara described Zuzu as the happiest dog at that moment and it lit up like a Christmas tree. However, the family did not come to pick up the dog. Instead, they came to adopt another dog.

According to Lara's post, the owners decided to let go of their pet as it would not stop crying at the death of its father. Then the heartbroken dog escaped its family's yard and hopped the wall heading towards the neighbour's yard. The unhappy neighbour called animal control and volunteers picked up the dog. Lara posted leaving Zuzu in the centre was the family's solution for the dog's unhappiness.

The video was shared more than 3,500 times with angry comments from viewers.

"How someone could ever do this is beyond me. This family should not be able to adopt again," Brianne Cole wrote.

"You comfort your dog. Maybe get her another playmate. You sure as hell don't leave her at the pound ... This girl needs a loving foster or loving new home as quickly as possible," another viewer Jan Alverson Koza wrote.

Although Zuzu was not able to leave with its owner, the dog still had a happy ending. She has left the shelter with her new owners.

“We would like to report the happy ending… a rescue has agreed to take Zuzu and she will be leaving Downey [on] the first day that she is legally allowed to be adopted,” DACC wrote on Facebook.

“Please remember that every shelter pet has an equally tragic story as to how they landed at a municipal shelter and [each] deserves the same amount of national attention... and you can feel just as good adopting and saving one of them!” the centre said.