Shelter investigates why dog tore up his beloved stuffed animal
Hank the dog once loved his stuffed animal. What happened?
— -- One animal shelter is trying to crack the case on why a chocolate Labrador would turn on his beloved stuffed animal.
When Hank, a 4-year-old chocolate Labrador, first checked into Fox Valley Humane Association in Appleton, Wisconsin, employees there noticed a note along with him. It read: "Make sure purple stuffed hippo stays with Hank."
So when Rebecca Reppert-Klich, the shelter's creative coordinator, was penning Hank's adoption profile, hoping to lure loving families to adopt Hank, she thought she'd have some fun with it.
It was especially important for Reppert-Klich, who realized this was Hank's second time in the shelter. "He returned because the owner developed allergies," she explained to ABC News.
"When two animals come in together, they're called a bonded pair, so I thought it'd be funny to do a little adoption bio that read they're a bonded pair," Reppert-Klich continued. "But when I came back a couple of days later someone told me he had ripped up his hippo."
Initially, the coordinator was disappointed. But then it gave her another excuse to let her imagination run wild.
On the shelter's Instagram profile, Reppert-Klich documented how Hank was now under "investigation" for ripping up the poor hippo.
The hippo was even taken to the shelter's veterinarians and a therapist, who all played along.
The story worked because a local family adopted Hank on July 13.
Reppert-Klich also noted that Hank's hilarious story also brought in donations from animal lovers around the world.
"It shows the power of laughter and humor and it helped a lot of other animals," she said.
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