Eldad Hagar and Shaggy

Along with I don’t know how many thousands upon thousands of people all around the world, for the past few days I’ve been watching the Livestream of animal rescuer Eldad Hagar and his most recent rescue Shaggy. It was such a powerful display of fundamental human kindness and decency it was impossible to look away.

As I type, Eldad is taking Shaggy to the woman who has adopted her. Of course this is a wonderful thing for Shaggy, but I already miss her terribly. Crazy, I know. Anyway, here are a few screenshots I took this morning. (In a couple of cases I didn’t like the shot I got so I went back to the video record. I’m a perfectionist. It will be the death of me. Note to self: leave the apartment now.)

Goodbye Shaggy, and thank you Eldad Hagar and all your fellow rescuers. Sob. Speaking of sobbing, toward the end we could all hear Eldad crying. It takes so much courage to do what he and many others do. We all watched as Shaggy went from shrinking from human contact to happily laying next to Eldad, following his every move, and crying whenever Eldad left the room. Then, for the first time, this morning Shaggy was playing around on the floor with Eldad, completely transformed from the dog who hadn’t felt a human’s touch for the past five years.

How can rescuers not fall in love, at least a little bit, every time? And then you must say goodbye.

Stacy Horn

I've written six non-fiction books, the most recent is Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th-Century New York.

View all posts by Stacy Horn →

4 thoughts on “Eldad Hagar and Shaggy

  1. I was also one of the thousands drawn to watching Shaggy’s transformation. I kept thinking I would stop watching and get my life back but the love on the screen and being written on the social stream was palpable. Thanks for writing this Stacy and sharing the pictures with your readers.

  2. Hi Pat!! I was the same way, my life was practically on hold and even now I’m finding it hard to let go.

  3. Wow. Greetings rom Shaggy Ann! We stumbled upon this blog! Nice writeup. Thanks also for the photos! Patty

  4. Hi Patty! I’m so honored you stopped by!! (Patty is the wonderful woman who adopted Shaggy, now Shaggy Ann. I’ve been continuing to follow Shaggy’s adventures on Facebook.)

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