Minor league baseball player, Austin Conway adopted his dog, Stella four years ago.
Ever since, the German Shepherd mix has been “shedding all over my bed and clothes,” “wanting to go outside at the most inconvenient times,” and even stealing food right off Conway’s plate.
In addition to her naughty behavior, caring for Stella is quite costly.
“It’s even harder to find an apartment to live in that will take her, since she is a German Shepherd mix. Generally, I always end up paying a higher rent, because only select apartments accept her.”
All this doggy drama led Conway to author a viral Facebook post. “Really hate to be making this post right now… My girl Stella is just too much to handle sometimes,” it begins.
After listing Stella’s shortcomings, Conway’s post comes to a difficult conclusion:
“So, I have came to the decision that I will not be giving her up. I will continue to deal with pet hair on all of my belongings. I will continue to get out of bed at 6 am or midnight when she’s begging me to go out even though I just took her. I will continue dealing with a food thief. I will continue to base my living situation off of her for as long as she’s alive. And I will continue making any sacrifice I SIGNED UP FOR when I adopted her over 4 years ago.”
He goes on to promise that Stella will always have a home with him “no matter what city I move to, however many children I have, or how much of a pain in my a** she can be.”
“She’s family, and if you don’t view an animal in this same way, please do us all a favor and don’t get a pet until you do.”
Just one week after his post went live, it has nearly 450,000 likes, 62,000 comments, and 290,000 shares. In a follow-up post, Conway says he is “blown away” by the response from dog lovers all over the world.
“It’s been amazing seeing how far this message has spread, and to see how many others feel the same way about their pets,” he wrote. “I’ve had endless amounts of comments and messages thanking me for speaking out, and some telling of the struggles they have with their dogs and that the post was just what they needed to hear to gain some patience.”
Conway hopes his words will continue to inspire dog parents to ride out the bad times and appreciate all the love and laughter dogs bring to our lives.
“Whatever you’re going through with your pet, good times and bad, it will always be worth it.”
H/T to WFLA.com
Toledo, United States.
