If you don't want your heart to be torn in two, then look away now. Video of a surrendered cat desperately seeking love and a new home has emerged online and it's proven to be a real tear-jerker.
Posted on TikTik by Gaston County Animal Care & Enforcement, the footage shows a beautiful ginger cat, called Bell in an animal shelter, staring out of the window in the hope that her owners will one day return.
It emerges that Bell had lived with a family for eight years before being put up for adoption, for reasons that are not mentioned. But although every other cat in the shelter has been rehoused, this poor kitty was shown waiting, the change in her circumstance having hit hard.
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@gcace_rescue ♬ original sound - m.a.r.y s.h.a.n.t.i
At first, as poignant music plays, the camera pans across an empty shelter before showing Bell slowly and cautiously walking over to a shelter worker. “She is scared here,” a caption reads, explaining the situation before showing Bell looking out at a parking lot.
But it's a situation that has faced so many cats over the years. Indeed, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), 3.2 million cats enter animal shelters in the US each year. Thankfully, of those, about 2.1 million are adopted and 100,000 who enter as strays are returned to their owners.
Some, like Bell, struggle to be housed, however and it was all too much for some. “Please someone adopt this sweetheart. Only wants a loving home!!!,” one TikTok user wrote. “She needs a forever home to live out her time bless her heart,” another said. Some could not understand how anyone could give Bell up for adoption and others said they would call the shelter and offer to take Bell home.
As views passed 7.5 million, there was some good news. Gaston County Animal Care & Enforcement gave Bell's new fans an update, saying she has now been given a new home with a loving new owner.
