Teen Forced To Give Up Pet Writes Heartbreaking Letter To Tulsa Shelter

Rick Wells, News On 6

TULSA, Oklahoma -- Our relationships with our pets are often deep and very personal. The heartbreak of having to give that pet up can be unimaginable.

At this weekend's big adopt-a-thon hosted by Radar, The News on 6 Weather Dog, volunteers found a letter from a 15-year-old girl about her dog Atheana.

Read the letter from the 15-year-old teen

When Rick Wells heard the family had to give the dog up, he thought he might be able to help find it a home.

Shelli Holland-Handy is the Director of Oklahoma Alliance for Animals.  Through her, and the information in the letter, we learned the family was moving and couldn't keep their dogs.

Shelli spends lots of time here and says insight like that is rare.

"Unfortunately we don't have a lot of information about the dogs that come in here," she said.

So the letter from a teen about her dear Atheana is unique.

We got both dogs out of their kennel, and took them outside. The Black and tan dog, named Megy May, and Atheana came in together. They are among the 30 to 50 dogs that arrive here every day.

"It's nice to know something about the animal and her history," Shelli said.

From the letters, we learned that Atheana turned one-year-old on Easter Sunday. She is a good listener and will come when she's called. She'll sit, say please, and loves to fetch.

The dogs came in together and are kenneled together at Animal Welfare. Megy May seems much more dependent on Atheana than the other way around.

Of course, the ideal situation would be to adopt them both; in fact I'm told there's a big discount for multiple adoptions. But Atheana's the focus. Her teenaged owner wouldn't have her here if she didn't have to.

"She's a good dog and she deserves a second chance," Shelli said.

We asked the Animal Welfare folks to keep us informed about Atheana and when she gets adopted.