There is a reason why most people are dog lovers these days. Dogs are cute, loyal, emotional, and everything you can expect from a human being. However, human beings are not really standing up to their reputation. Hence, dogs are replacing them. People prefer dogs over kids, partner and friends. This man adopted a dog for the same reason but his selfie made people mad and they ended up calling the police to report the issue.
Dogs Not Allowed
Dan Tillery is a dog lover, like most of us. He and his girlfriend always wanted to get a pet but due to restrictions in a rented apartment, they couldn’t do that. Their family was incomplete due to the landlord’s orders. And soon they had their own home so they could fulfill their long due dream now. Dan said, “We just recently purchased our first home. All ours. And dogs are allowed.”
Give Some Respect
The couple was just waiting to move into their new home. As soon as they did it, they were on their search for their baby. They looked out for the perfect one in pet shops and even considered newborn puppies nearby. In the end, they did what a responsible dog lover would do. They visited an animal shelter to add a member to their family. A look was enough for them to fall in love with… wait for it… Sir Wiggleton.
Found On The Streets Of Detroit
When Dan went to adopt the American Bulldog, he was two years old. Sir Wiggleton was found roaming around on the streets of Detroit, near the place where Dan and his girlfriend used to live. Someone found him and reported in the shelter. The shelter kept him in for a few months. It was love at first sight for Dan and his girlfriend. They adopted their first kid and were on a new journey.
Getting It All Started
The connection between Dan and Sir was instant. Dan had seen a picture of Sir on the shelter’s social media page and found it really cute. He knew this was the dog for him. When he met him, he loved the name too but it was too difficult to pronounce. So, he decided to give him a short name – Diggy. The picture of Diggy was sugar dripping cute as he was sticking his tongue out of his mouth. Now, it was time to see how strong the instant bond was.
Shaking The Internet
Being a musician, Dan had some serious following on the internet. The man-dog duo had amazing photogenic faces and that showed in their pictures. Now, people were following Dan for his amazingly cute pictures and not just for his music and looks. However, some people found something wrong in his pictures and couldn’t digest it. Hence, they filed a complaint against Dan.
Police Intervened
After all the love Dan was getting for the pictures, he realized someone didn’t appreciate it at the same time. He got to know that someone had complained to the police. Nobody could find out the reason for such complaint. Dan was obviously shocked when he got to know about it but he was dumbfounded when he was told the reason.
Mystery Begins
After going through his profile, it was difficult to find the reason behind the complaint. Did someone recognize Dan as a criminal? Were there illegal substances involved? Is this love considered abuse? The reason was something you cannot even think of. In fact, no one should be bothered by it let alone filing a complaint in the police. The matter was getting serious.
A Tag On Social Media
In the very first post, he wanted people to know that Diggy was a rescued dog. Hence, he decided to tag the shelter he got Diggy from. His intention behind this act was that he wanted to encourage people to take rescue dogs and give them a better life. Three words, Detroit Dog Rescue, got him in trouble and we are shocked. No good deed guarantees a smooth road.
Going Viral
The love was over flowing from all the directions. Some had positive comments to give and some even started calling and texting Dan for showing their love towards his posts. He started receiving emails from newspapers and websites to cover his story of adopting a rescue dog. While all this was happening, there were people who couldn’t find a single positive thing about Dan and Diggy’s relationship. They started commenting negative things about Dan and sometimes even about the cute little dog, Diggy.
The Troublesome Post
Detroit Dog Rescue decided to post a sweet picture of Dan and Diggy to show them the love. They captioned the picture, “We know this photo is going to break the internet and we apologize, but we had to share. After almost 100 days in the shelter, Sir Wiggleton just got adopted. Sir Wiggleton and his new Dad are celebrating adoption day with huge smiles all around!” As this picture was spreading, it was reaching more negative people and who had known that such a cute picture could lead them to a problem?
Knock, Knock
Initially, Dan couldn’t see anything bad about the viral post. All he could think of was the message it was spreading. Goodwill was on his head so he couldn’t waste his time paying heed to the negative comments. He couldn’t do it until one day… A knock at the door and their stories changed. Two policemen were standing at the door and Dan’s life changed.
Dangerous Breed?
Well, this news was spreading at that point of time. In 2016, in 41 cases people had met their end and 22 of those cases were the result of pit bull bites. Most of the attacks were carried out by pit bulls. Hence, they were considered dangerous for a reason. There was a conception in people’s minds that the pit bulls who attack are trained to do so or have been abused in the past.
Pit Bulls
Without any scientific proof, pit bulls have a bad reputation among people. They are considered dangerous by people and on the other hand, doctors are of the opinion that pit bulls are dangerous only when they are growing in abusive environment. Otherwise pit bulls are loyal and friendly like any other dog. However, for Dan, it wasn’t just about having a dangerous breed in the house.
Legal Action
The post went viral and reached the local police. Hence, they ended up at their place for something Dan had never expected. No, the police wasn’t there to appreciate him for his good deed. Instead, they were there to shatter his dream. The only dream he had had all this while. They told him that people of Waterford Township were not allowed to own a pit bull. He was told that he would have to give up the dog or will have to face the legal consequences of keeping Diggy.
Diggy, The Good Boy
Well, Dan was in no mood to entertain this nonsense but he had to let them in and see the dog. Dan was indeed a good boy and he convinced the police officers of the same fact. Dan said, “When they went to the gate (to) actually see him, he licked their face, was very kind. We’re dog lovers, that’s cool, he seems like a good boy.” They even took some pictures of him.
Back To No Dogs Allowed
Well, Dan had shifted to his own house to have a dog. However, in this scenario, he realized he was not allowed to have a dog at all, at least not the pit bull. The situation was definitely frustrating for Dan and he couldn’t figure a way out of this dilemma. He didn’t want to leave Diggy in the shelter and he couldn’t even keep him with himself.
Did They Not Know?
Diggy was a good boy and there was good news as well. He wasn’t a pit bull. When Dan took a dig into the adoption papers he realized that Diggy was an American bulldog and not a pit bull. He and his girlfriend thought that the papers would be enough to close the case but that wasn’t how things turned out to be. Police’s reply took the couple by shock and they couldn’t believe what they were hearing.
Police’s Opinion Mattered
We assume it must be important but can police decide a dog’s breed? Well, the papers clearly stated that Diggy wasn’t a pit bull but the police was in no mood to take that as proof and said that IN THEIR OPINION, he was a pit bull. Lt. Todd Hasselbach of the local police department said that Diggy looked like a pit bull to him. To their disbelief, after this incident, Dan was given three days to give back Diggy to the shelter.
Is That Even Legal?
It wasn’t really clear if the police’s word was the final say or not. Could they change the breed of the dog by their word? The look might be similar but by technicalities, these two were completely different. But were the looks the final way of deciding if Diggy was a pit bull, irrespective of the legal papers? The things were getting worse for Dan as he was being separated from his baby just because IN THE OPINION of a police officer Diggy was a pit bull and not an American bulldog.
Letter Of Law
When this matter reached the public, all animal lovers, animal rights groups came together to help Dan. However, the police chief had just one thing to say. Scott Underwood said, “From our standpoint, it’s a pretty clear case of an ordinance that makes it clear what’s permissible and what’s not. Our job is to enforce the ordinance.” Weird but nobody could do in this situation or maybe someone could?
Choices
There were two choices in front of Dan. He had to either give up Diggy or pay a fine of $500 along with some jail time. Dan was trying to be practical and he knew that being in jail would do no good to him and he will have to give up Diggy eventually. But things were not over yet. The social media following was not going to let all this happen when none of the two were at fault.
Getting Ready For Action
People were now attached to the heartbreaking story of these two. They couldn’t see these two being separated. People sitting online filed petitions in one hope and they wanted Dan to keep Diggy. While all this was happening, Dan was looking for options to get some help legally so that he could keep his best friend close.
Changing For Better?
The petitioners were not just in it for Dan. They had another purpose as well. They wanted to lift the ban of pit bull in the township. If this would have happened Dan wouldn’t need to prove that Diggy was an American bulldog and no one will have to go through such a terrible heartbreak. Leaving a dog is worse than a breakup. Who would want to be in that position, right?
Not A Quitter
When Dan knew that Diggy was not a pit bull, he knew the law would help him in keeping his best friend. In a social media post, he spoke about the determination he had to keep Diggy. He wrote, “My lawyer and I are going to do everything possible to make sure Diggy stays in his home with us, his family. Thanks for all of your support, guys. I’m not a quitter.”
A Petition With Hundred Thousand Signatures
As Dan was preparing for the courtroom drama, the online petition had already received a hundred thousand signatures. However, people weren’t satisfied with this online form. Hence, they discussed the matter at a town hall meeting. Dan was touched by the overwhelming support of the people. He was happy to know that these many people had joined him on the journey. However, was this support enough?
Love Towards The Rescue Dogs
Such a big number came forward to help Dan and it was not just because Dan was a great keeper. Another reason was that Diggy was a rescue dog. Rescue dogs have been through a lot and people avoid adopting such dogs. Hence, animal's rights activism comes into play in this scenario. Director of Detroit Dog Rescue, Kristina Rinaldi said, “People had really invested their emotions into this story, and it’s beautiful to see so many people care about rescue dogs.”
Rescue Dogs
Each year 3.3 million dogs enter the shelter in the United States of America. The division of this number is such that 1.6 million out of these are adopted, 670,000 are euthanized, and 620,000 are returned to their previous owners. If you are adopting even one of them, you are saving a life.
Court Stepped In
After all the police drama, Dan received good news! The court dismissed the case and let Dan keep Diggy. Before the judgment, Dan was leading a life that was half empty. There was a high probability that Dan would have to let Diggy go back to shelter and he would be alone after all that. However, things were now on his side.
The Victorious Post
When Dan received the news, he knew who to update first, the people who had been with him through all the drama. He posted an update on the case. He wrote, “We get to keep our boy, He's a good boy.” Also, there was a reform in the pit bull ordinance and now Dan took Diggy to a professional to get final knowledge on the breed of Diggy.
Influencer
Dan received a huge amount of love in this journey. In this journey, he got 10,000 likes on his Facebook page, over 14,000 Instagram followers and over a thousand subscribers to his Twitter profile. Hence, he is all in for influencing people in the right way. Now he is using his following to show the right path for animal lovers.
Musician
Coming back to the basic part, Dan was known for his music and this musician is incredible. The fan base on social media has helped him become a musician and he has thousands of admirers to himself. Now his social media account is used to promote his band and post cute pictures of him and Diggy. Cute, isn’t it? He released his first single in 2016 called “We Like to Have Fun”. He keeps updating his YouTube channel as well.
The Dog Is Always At Top
Okay, we have got another social media star as a result of this controversy. Not just Dan but Diggy is also popular among people. People follow Diggy for his adorable pictures. Who wouldn’t? After all, this cute little boy is such a sweetheart that it melts our hearts. So, without any doubt, dogs are always on the top of our social media feed.
All’s Well That Ends Well
Today, Diggy is happy because he is with an amazing best friend for life, Dan. All the pictures show the healthy side of Diggy and his happiness shows in all the pictures. Adopting a rescue dog will not just save a life but it will also give you a friend you can rely on. Dan and Diggy are happy together and we wish they stay the same as long as they can.
