Dog Surrendered with Heartbreaking Note Before Owner's Suicide Now Has New Loving Home

Shell’s owner just wanted to make sure her “very sweet girl” found a loving home — and that’s exactly what happened.

Last week, the small dog was surrendered at Stray Rescue of St. Louis with a heartbreaking note attached.

The portion of the letter that Stray Rescue posted on Facebook reads:

To Stray Rescue:

I am writing you cause I need you to take my dog Shell. My mother adopted Shell from Stray Rescue around 2009-2010 … In 2012 she had a massive stroke and now has Alzheimers. So in 2012 Shell came to live with me. I’ve been fighting cancer for a few months and if you’re reading this I lost my battle. I need for my baby girl to be taking [sic] care of in a home with one person.

Shell is a very sweet little girl. She’s been threw [sic] a lot so she has trouble with trust in the beginning. She loves to cuddle but doesn’t like to be carried. She’s very smart.

According to KMOV, Shell’s owner, who had cancer for the second time, died by suicide shortly after leaving her dog at the shelter.

Dedicated to honoring the owner’s wishes, Stray Rescue set to work finding the perfect person to adopt Shell. After receiving an onslaught of applications from animal lovers who felt for Shell and the struggle her owner endured, the shelter was able to pick one person.

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On Thursday, they announced on Facebook that Shell found her ideal match in a woman who had lost her beloved Stray Rescue pup in July.

“She just felt so drawn to her. Wasting no time, she filled out an application and was here the very next morning. The two of them hit it off and she knew it was definitely the right time. She says Shell is already running the house, and that they are inseparable,” reads the post.

While every adoption is a win for the shelter, Stray Rescue staff say they were “honored” to fulfill a final wish for Shell’s owner, and promise that Shell will be “spoiled for the rest of her life.”