Sometimes, a picture is all it takes.
For Sherry Lankston, a mom of two in the Seattle area, a regular social media check-in turned into an unexpected road trip and a new family member. In February she stumbled upon a Facebook post by Joy Ollinger, a lieutenant with the San Diego Department of Animal Services.
Ollinger, who also serves as an animal shelter manager, had shared photos of and a note about Harvey, a young husky who was looking for a permanent home.
“[Harvey] has a facial deformity so he was getting overlooked all the time and I started having him in my office to get to know him a little better. And then I started posting him on my personal Facebook and that’s how Sherry saw him,” Ollinger told Good Morning America.
Ollinger said Harvey was named after the comic book character Harvey Dent “because the two sides of his face don’t match.” She had grown fond of the 1-year-old pup and wanted to shine a spotlight on the “very intelligent” dog who loved to “put his paws up on the desk” and snuggle while she was in the office.
“In the entire time Harvey was here, he never got any interest,” Ollinger said. “He was never asked about or taken on an interact by anyone until Sherry came along.”
When Lankston saw Harvey, she was instantly smitten. “It’s that face where he’s just like smiling, his tongue lolling out and he just looked like the happiest, goofiest dog,” she recalled. Plans were put into motion to get him adopted.
She drove over 2,600 miles to bring her new furbaby home.
Lankston hopes Harvey’s adoption story can inspire other families to consider adopting or helping animals in need.