Meet Carlos, the Ocean County shelter dog looking for a new home
OCEAN COUNTY, N.J. (CBS) -- An Ocean County shelter dog is one step closer to finding his forever home thanks to a social media video that's now been viewed 100,000 times around the world.
The Associated Humane Societies Popcorn Park posted a video to their social media platforms of one of their longest-tenured residents, Carlos, who's been at the shelter for 20 months.
In the video, Carlos' cries echo throughout the shelter.
"Carlos has got a ton of personality," Sandy Hickman, AHS Popcorn Park's media coordinator, said. "He's needy and whiny sometimes, which is what people heard in the video. So, it's hard not to notice him. You just can't not love him."
But no one noticed him enough to give him a forever home.
He's an older dog, at 8 and a half years old, and he can't be in a home with other dogs. He also recently tore his ACL, which, Hickman said, made it tough to find a family for Carlos.
"He literally breaks our hearts," Hickman said. "Sometimes you walk away from the kennel, and the door is closed, and you could still hear Carlos crying. He just wants attention."
Hickman decided to give him some more attention by featuring Carlos' cries in a social media video.
"I wanted people to see it because he gets overlooked so many times that he's just a special boy," Hickman said. "He just wants to be with people, and that's why he cries."
Carlos cries were soon heard around the world.
Since posting the video, Hickman said it's gotten 100,000 views, and they received offers from people locally and internationally to foster or adopt Carlos.
"I'm thrilled with it, thrilled that it's finally got him noticed," Hickman said.
Carlos is going to be staying with a foster family while he prepares for ACL surgery and shelter staff go through adoption applications for him.
Hickman's now planning to shoot more videos of some of the shelter's other dogs.
"They're so very unique," Hickman said. "To just see a picture and skip over him because his face is a little gray, just come in and meet them."