When Cinnamon, a Pitbull with a red nose, was left at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Animal Care & Control shelter in North Carolina, she was utterly devastated.
Abandoned and separated from her puppies, her eyes welled with tears whenever someone approached her.
A compassionate volunteer noticed this heartbroken dog and decided to capture a short video of her to share on Facebook.
Remarkably, just 48 hours later, Cinnamon’s life took a dramatic turn.
The Cry of a Broken Heart
On a Saturday, Sarah Jennings Sleime, a regular volunteer at the Greater Charlotte SPCA, felt inspired to spontaneously visit animal control to consider a couple of dogs for rescue.
Unbeknownst to her, one specific dog was about to shatter her heart.
“I walked through the kennels and noticed a pit bull… she was sitting, slumped over, almost appearing human,” Sleime shared in her Instagram post.
It was clear that she had just had puppies and was visibly distraught without them.
“According to the shelter staff, she was kept confined and used for breeding. She has clearly had numerous litters,” Sleime told The Dodo.
When Sleime leaned in to talk to Cinnamon, tears welled in Cinnamon’s eyes each time.
“It was an astonishing phenomenon,” Sleime recounted.
Unfortunately, without a foster home available, the SPCA could not rescue any large dogs. However, Sleime felt compelled to assist this unfortunate dog.
“I captured some video footage of her ‘crying’ and uploaded it to Facebook. Within 48 hours, the video was viewed over 1 MILLION times and shared by 20,000 people,” Sleime wrote.
Within just one day, Sleime was inundated with countless messages about Cinnamon’s status and her potential adoption.
The demand to adopt this lovely girl and offer her a happy new life, free of sorrow, was overwhelming.
Happily Ever After
Among those who viewed Cinnamon’s video was Sleime’s friend, Meghan Connor Shelton, from Charlotte, North Carolina.
She remarked to The Dodo:
“I have a special affinity for pit bulls. They are often misunderstood. When I watched her crying in that video, I cried. My children cried too. I showed my husband, and he agreed we could go meet her the next day.”
The following morning, Shelton’s family was the first in line to encounter Cinnamon.
The entire family, including the kids, instantly fell in love with her. “It was love at first sight. She really tugged at our heartstrings,” Shelton expressed.
They completed the necessary paperwork, and as soon as Cinnamon—now renamed Rosie—was spayed, they took her home.
The Shelton family had another dog at home—a 3-year-old male Pitbull named Blu.
Initially, they worried about how Rosie would get along with him, especially considering her challenging past, but she exceeded everyone’s expectations.
“It was fascinating because you never really know how things will unfold, but they just sat side by side with wagging tails,” Shelton reflected.
The two quickly became inseparable, sharing an undeniable bond as if they had always been together.
As Rosie settled into her new environment, her true personality began to shine through. One of her quirky traits is that “when she gets excited, she snorts like a pig”.
Rosie’s heartfelt video not only paved the way for her adoption but also aided in the rehoming of many other dogs at the shelter.
“Small initiatives can lead to significant changes: Not only was this sweet dog, Cinnamon, adopted the next morning, but the families who came to adopt her also saved other dogs in the shelter, clearing space for strays and owner surrenders that would have otherwise been euthanized in an overcrowded facility,” Sleime noted.
A single video or image has the potential to reach millions and can instantly transform lives.
Check out the CMPD Animal Care and Control page, and visit the Greater Charlotte SPCA’s website for more insights on adoptable dogs, and discover how you could save a pup’s life just like Rosie’s was rescued.
