I follow animals needing rescue relentlessly on the internet. Every once in a while, I can help one.

Today, I saw this face, accompanied by a write-up from a rescue friend whose judgement I trust.

“[Jonah] is an undersocialized Heinz 57 mix boy. He is very tentative to start, but then gets attached quickly once he trusts you. He seems to particularly like small dogs, and was fine during his cat test. He’d actually do well with another dog to show him the ropes. He’d do best in a quieter home, while he gains confidence. More tomorrow. Releasable immediately.”

We weren’t looking for a foster (in fact, it was horrible timing because we were going on vacation that week and then out-of-town again for the holidays) but something about his sad little face spoke to me.

Our house has one dog and two cats and the #1 thing we now require in our fosters is that they have to be cat safe/friendly–which it seemed like Jonah was. Add that with him being dog friendly, scared and a dog that would do better in a quieter home (which we have) and I couldn’t leave him in the shelter for one more day. Anxious dogs can have a really scary, hard time in the shelter.

After hearing about his situation my partner agreed to fostering him, one of my good friends agreed to temporarily foster him while we were out of town, and just like that, Jonah’s life changed.