Martian is a senior shelter dog. He was in need of a home after his family decided to give him up.

Martin arrived at the SPCA of Wake County when he was about ten years old. Even though his father adored Martin dearly, he could no longer take care of him.

As Samantha Ranlet, marketing communications expert at SPCA, explained, his age reached a point where he couldn’t give the life he believed Martin deserved. He desired a better existence.

Martin’s father took the elderly dog to the animal shelter in the hopes that they may assist Martin in finding a home where he could spend his later years comfortably.

He did a good job of adjusting, Ranlet added. He didn’t know if he understood what was happening, but even from day one, he was just this joyful, easy-going, really sweet old man with a teddy bear face, said one observer.

But finding a suitable adopter proved to be more difficult than anticipated due to Martin’s age.

Ranlet noted that he kept getting passed over time and time again. Seven adoptions failed in the space of two months for various reasons.

However, Martin’s adoption was influenced by a number of other factors as well. He also tested positive for heartworms, which put prospective adopters on edge.

The SPCA team made the decision to try something new to spread the word about Martin after the seventh adoption fell through.

According to Ranlet, they came to the conclusion that they needed to use the internet to urge our community to help them share him and place him in a family.

Indeed, Martin received the awareness he required with just one Facebook post outlining his tale and two images of his cute teddy bear face.

Ranlet claimed that the Facebook posts made a difference. Thousands of people reacted and shared the article, and unexpectedly people started to call, email, and ask questions about it. 

After Martin’s tweet went viral, the senior dog’s adoption applications were fully booked in less than 48 hours.

One of the applications was submitted by a couple with knowledge of elderly dogs.

According to Ranlet, they weren’t worried about his age, and they weren’t afraid of the heartworm condition he had. They were instantly enamored by him and his cuddly enthusiasm.

Martin has been living at the couple’s house for a few weeks now. Since he continues to receive heartworm medication at the SPCA of Wake County on the weekends, his adoption hasn’t been confirmed yet, but it will be shortly.

They intend to make the adoption official as soon as he finishes his therapy, Ranlet added. He still has one or two months to go.

Martin is the lone dog in his new household, but he gets along well with Hilltop, his younger cat sister.

The SPCA employees miss Martin every day even though they get to see him for his routine heartworm visits. However, they are overjoyed that he managed to find the ideal family in spite of all the odds, and they hope that his tale will encourage others to adopt older dogs.

Ranlet stated that it was great to pay senior pets extra attention. It helps people remember that adopting them is good, too.