Shenley Huston Kirk was looking through the euthanasia list at the Franklin County Shelter and Adoption Center in Ohio when she came upon a beautiful beagle named Gregory. As soon as she saw the dog, Shenley knew she had to save him.

Gregory had been found as a stray in Obetz, Ohio, and rescuers believe he had been abandoned by his previous owners. The little dog was in perfect health, except for one problem: his heartworm test came up positive.

The shelter said that treatment for this condition would cost $400, so he was listed as “rescue only” on their page. If he was not rescued from the shelter by May 3, they would have no choice but to euthanize him.

Lucky for Gregory, however, Shenley and her husband Joe are the founders of Hound Rescue and Sanctuary, and they weren’t about to let this dog be put down. They weren’t expecting anything from Gregory in return for saving his life, but they ended up being very wrong!

“My husband took the day off work to drive to the shelter, while I stayed home to take care of the other rescue dogs,” Shenley said. “On the way back home, he decided he was going to take a couple selfies of our new rescue, which I got after him a little bit for since he’s not supposed to take pictures while driving — but considering the photos he captured I couldn’t complain too much.”

Gregory sat as close as possible to Joe and hugged him the entire drive home!

“[Joe] sent me three photos, and in the last one, little Gregory had leaned his head over, as if to say, ‘You saved my life. I knew I was going to die at that shelter, but you saved me today, and just the look in his eyes — the thankfulness, the appreciation and the love of this little dog — it’s as if he knows his life has been saved,” Shenley recalled.

Gregory has since finished his one month antibiotic treatment and is about to start his heartworm medicine. He’s already been completely house trained and remains totally devoted to his owners!

“He’s very laid-back, very happy-go-lucky, and his favourite thing to do is get lots of love from his people,” added Shenley.

We’re so glad to see that Gregory’s story had a happy ending! SHARE this story so your friends and family can see this as well!