Most dogs have that one toy that they prefer over all others, they play with it the most, they sleep next to it and maybe gnaw on it occasionally more so than the rest of their toys. Toy attachment is a thing, and a toy can bring a lot of happiness and comfort to any pet.
However, stray dogs, which are more often than not lonely and left to fend for themselves, don’t have any kind of toys to play with. This dog is an exception though.
A lovely street dog that fell in love with a stuffed toy, a unicorn to be exact, from a Dollar General store in Kenansville, North Carolina, and he simply had to have it.
You could imagine the look of surprise and confusion on the people from Duplin County Animal Control when they got a call from the store reporting a rather peculiar shoplifting case.
The caller detailed that a stray dog had been sneaking into their store constantly, to steal the same purple, stuffed unicorn toy persistently. He seemed to be enamored with it, so much so that he would stop at nothing to have it in his possession. The caller also reported that the dog returned to steal the toy five different times before they called Animal Control.
credit : Instagram – Duplin County Animal Services
Joe Newburn, supervisor at Duplin County Animal Services, told People that “He went straight for the unicorn, the same one every time, it was so strange, one of the strangest calls I’ve ever dealt with.”
The officer, Samantha Lane, who arrived to pick up the dog at the store did something unexpected. When she saw how much the stuffed toy meant to the stray dog, she, in an act of kindness, paid 10 dollars to buy it for him. Afterwards the dog was immediately brought to animal services and was kept in holding for the duration of time that the officers needed to find out if he had any owners at all.
The typical procedure for shoplifters is to punish them, not reward them with the very thing they were shoplifting, but it was crystal clear just how much this stuffed unicorn meant to this poor stray, who until now had nothing.
However, this act of kindness didn’t surprise the officer’s coworkers. “This is something she’s always done,” Newburn told WCTI 12. “This isn’t something new to her, it’s just a different dog, but yes, she’s always doing this stuff for the animals.”
The lovely stray got affectionately named Sisu by the officers after a character from a Disney movie called Raya and the Last Dragon that has a purple man and a horn similar to a unicorn’s. Soon after, Sisu was put up for adoption and Duplin County Animal Services shared the charmingly odd story of the dog, which most definitely aided in making the post on Twitter go viral.
credit : Instagram – Duplin County Animal Services
The adoption post reads: “Sassy with other dogs and will not tolerate any back talk, very obedient with people. Knows sit, lay, heel and loves unicorns from dollar general.” While waiting for people to adopt him, Sisu relied on his stuffed unicorn buddy for comfort and joy.
Many of the officers assumed that Sisu may have had a home before he was a stray and that’s the reason why he was so insistent on having a toy with him.
Newburn also told People: “I don’t know of any other reason why this dog would focus on the unicorn toy other than he had one at home. If the store had called and said he tore open dog food, that would make more sense but not hunting for a purple unicorn.”
Fortunately for Sisu, he has found his home – animal services were quick to announce this.
Due to the story his shoplifting adventures going viral, he quickly found people to give him his happy ending, and of course, his trusty unicorn friend will be at his side along the way. Dollar General also announced that they donated some additional stuffed unicorns to his adoptive family in honor of Sisu. The more the merrier!
Not only did they donate extra unicorns, but Dollar General also donated pet food to Duplin County Animal Services, and gave Officer Samantha Lane a special gift of gratitude. “We are paws-itively thrilled that Sisu is enjoying his new toy!” In a statement to WCTI 12, the Dollar General corporate office added “We are also grateful for Animal Control Officer Lane in helping to rescue him.”
It is great news that Sisu and his stuffed unicorn friend have found their forever home after being in the streets for who knows how long. Not many strays get their happy ending so it’s great to hear success stories like these once in a while to brighten our day.
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