Ben Madilynn
Kayla Sargeant was doing things around the house and had the front door open, letting in some air. She turned her back for just a moment — and when she turned around again, there was a dog in the house.
“It was such a shock,” Sargeant told The Dodo. “He had no ID or anything and was super dirty.”
The senior pittie was super friendly and just wanted as many pets as he could get. Sargeant shares her house with four other roommates, and the women let the pittie into their yard while they figured out what to do.
“Within minutes, he disappeared,” Sargeant said. “We had no idea where he went. We assumed he must’ve been a neighbor’s dog, but before we knew it, he came back. This became a regular occurrence — he’d show up, we’d give him water [and] some food, some pets — and eventually when he was comfortable enough with us, we put a leash on him and walked him to our local vet to check for a microchip.”
It turned out that the dog was in fact chipped, but due to extenuating circumstances, his owner was unable to care for him — and that was all the roommates needed to hear.
“We all have been taking care of him together,” Sargeant said. “He mainly stays in the downstairs suite with three of us, but all of us just adore him.”
The dog’s previous family called him Fatty, but his new family mostly calls him House Hippo, Old Man or Stinky Boy. He wandered up to their house looking for love, and he found more of it than he ever could have dreamed of.
“He’s doing great now,” Sargeant said. “He’s clean, loved, happy and well-fed! We will be taking care of him as long as needed.”
Two of the roommates actually work in veterinary medicine, so the house is well-equipped to care for the senior man. They’re still in contact with the dog’s original family and are thrilled to care for him as long as they need to.
Sometimes it takes a village, and as long as the house hippo is loved, that’s all that matters.
