Man took home 16-year-old dog so he wouldn’t die alone, and it changed his life

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on June 2, 2023. It has since been updated.

There aren’t many people who care about the welfare of animals in foster homes. It’s usually people who truly love animals who step forward to help them. One such man decided to take a 16-year-old shelter dog home so he wouldn’t die alone, and it changed the dog’s life. In a video posted to Reddit by u/St0pX, the man is seen taking the dog home from the shelter. He tries to walk to the front of the car and tells it, “You can’t go to the front seat. I’m sorry.” Henry, the dog, can later be seen sleeping peacefully in the house.

The overlay then reads, “But months later he was galloping around the yard.” The man loves the dog and says, “My boy is over the top excited to see me.” Henry is then seen running after his foster father and chasing him. The video has garnered 86k votes on Reddit. The caption reads, “16 year old dog gets a great new home.” People just loved what the foster father did for the dog. u/firebirdta1995 commented, “It takes a strong family to do this. Good job sir, that old pup will be happy and loved.” u/quarkybynature wrote, “This made me cry. Such a beautiful story and such a beautiful family to give this old boy a good home.”

According to him, the man who was taking care of Henry was Zach Skow. Dodo“I saw them taking him out of the kennel, and he wouldn’t walk. He couldn’t hear. He couldn’t see out of one eye. You could tell he was really disoriented. He’s probably 15 or 16. I think he was surrendered because he had cancer,” Skow said. “I remember the look on his face. You could just feel the pain in his face,” Skow added. He wasn’t sure if Henry would last long. “I just wanted to take him home, show him love, give him a few days, a few weeks,” Skow said. His foster parent said Henry felt better after that first night of sleep. “So we’re at the vet. We’re taking him back now. They’re going to remove that testicular cancer,” Skow said.

Henry was getting better, and one day Skow said he followed him up the stairs. “He would gallop a little every morning, and every day he galloped a little faster.” So after about a month and a half, adoption applications for Henry began coming in. “A lot of people wonder how you can bring an animal into your life and then let it go. It’s a challenge, and you fall in love, but it’s very easy to separate the value of keeping him in our family from the value of letting him go.”

Henry was later adopted by another family, and his mom ran an Instagram channel called @seniordoghenry, documenting his life. Sadly, Henry passed away on January 6, 2022. “He passed away peacefully, with me and our family by his side. He passed away in my arms and on my lap with love, ear pats, pats, and lots of kisses from me and the girls. I am a wreck and my heart is broken. He was a joy in my life that I cannot describe; he brought sunshine to dark days and unconditional love every day. All of his scans looked good, but his body just couldn’t handle it. I know he brought joy to so many people, and to my family, you all brought light and love that we could not fathom. Thank you for being with us on his journey – and for loving and supporting him every day. Rest in peace, Henry, my sweet boy,” the family wrote on Instagram.