WHITEHALL, Mich. — More than a hundred abused, neglected, and homeless dogs are housed at Pound Buddies Animal Shelter in Muskegon.
A dog named “Tank” was one of the fortunate pets to find a home, but that’s only the beginning. He’s waited several months for the day his new owner would fly home from Afghanistan.
Just five months ago, Tank was homeless. Now, the two year old pit bull is a Whitehall resident.
Victoria Swanson decided to adopt the pooch as a pet for her boyfriend, who’s serving in Afghanistan.
Buddy Raymond and Tank had only met via Skype. That means no treats and no belly rubs; They just bonded over the internet as much as possible.
That all changed when Raymond flew back Saturday. He and more than 160 other service members made the trip home.
Tank spent the day waiting and waiting, and waiting for Victoria and his new owner buddy to come home. Finally, Victoria and Buddy walked through the door. “Where’s tank at?” Victoria shouted for him.
The two hit it off instantly. “I heard nothing but good things about him from Tory. He seems pretty cool,” Raymond smiled.
“I always talk about Tank to him. I’ve been really excited for him to get to meet him,” Swanson said. “It’s been a long 10 months,” Raymond said.
Victoria was glad when his plane landed, and especially when she saw him after the ceremony.
“That was hard. We had to sit there and watch him walk around. We couldn’t get up and go see him,” Swanson said. “It was a relief seeing him in one piece,” she added.
The trio has immediate plans to relax, be a family and Tank already has something to look forward to.
“Tank’s going to be our ring bearer. We’ve got a lot of things planned with Tank in it,” Swanson said.
If you’d like to give a dog like tank a new home, click here for Pound Buddies’ website. You can also contact your local animal shelter.
