Dog Shivers On Bus Bench Waiting For A Family Who Will Never Come

The skinny pittie was just trying to get some rest, but he couldn’t stop shivering. The bus bench he’d curled up on was hard, and the cold wind wouldn’t let up.

He coughed and coughed.

A Good Samaritan noticed the brown-and-white dog seemingly glued to the bench and decided to bring him in from the cold. The dog’s first stop was Chicago Animal Care and Control, where he was dubbed Parker and put on stray hold.

The dog had red, patchy skin and was suffering from kennel cough. It was clear that he’d been on his own for a while.

Once in the shelter system, many dogs are overlooked and forgotten. But the picture of Parker on the bench tugged at people’s hearts and began circulating online. One Tail at a Time saw Parker on social media, and as soon as his stray hold was over, the rescue stepped forward to give Parker a second chance at life.

“For so many dogs that could be the end … but not for Parker,” One Tail at a Time wrote on Facebook. “Parker is about to learn what it means to be safe. To be loved. To be warm. To be healthy. And with any luck, to be adopted.”

At his foster home, Parker blossomed. It became clear that he’d once had a family — he was already house-trained, great on a leash and didn’t mind being kenneled.

Though Parker still isn’t feeling his best two weeks after his rescue, he makes sure everyone knows how grateful he is to finally be safe.

“Parker is still getting over his kennel cough but luckily got on medicine quickly and is in a loving foster home to recover,” Kimberly Thomas, marketing manager for One Tail at a Time, told The Dodo. “He tolerates his baths and medicine well and loves to play. Parker is still active, and his foster calls him ‘a total goober.’ He loves napping on the couch (especially right by his foster’s legs), and doesn’t mind wearing jammies to help with his itchy skin.”

Parker seems to love everyone he meets and is content to snuggle or play with toys. His foster family knows that when he’s ready to find a forever home, he’ll spread joy wherever he goes.

“He will be ready for adoption soon,” Thomas said. “Once his medicated baths and CRID medicine are completed, he will be scheduled for a neuter surgery and then become adoptable.”