A senior dog in Texas is breaking hearts after ending up at a shelter once again, according to Newsweek. Now, a rescue group is trying to make sure Lola's story doesn't end without a forever family.
Lola, thought to be about 13, was recently brought to a shelter where records show she had previously resided in 2014 before she was adopted.
Caitie's Foster Fam Rescue, which shared Lola's story on social media in May, said the person who most recently brought her in had gotten her from someone else and could no longer care for her due to "medical reasons," Newsweek reported.
The rescue team placed Lola with a foster home in Houston, where shelter founder Caitlin Evers told the news outlet the dog is settling in. Lola is also dealing with some health issues. She is heartworm-positive and has a paw mass that requires treatment.
For any dog, a shelter environment can be stressful. For a senior dog, the shock can be even harder.
According to Newsweek, research published in the journal Physiology & Behavior found that dogs entering shelters often have higher levels of cortisol, a stress-related hormone. They may also pant, pace, and vocalize in response to stress.
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The Koret Shelter Medicine Program at the University of California, Davis, says longer shelter stays can worsen welfare, increasing the risk of illness, stress, and behavioral deterioration. Even a brief, calm time with people in a home may reduce those effects.
For now, Lola is out of the shelter and in foster care. Foster homes can give dogs a quieter place to recover, help rescuers better understand their medical and behavioral needs, and often make them more appealing to adopters who want a clearer picture of what life with the dog will look like.
Fostering has been shown to improve outcomes. A 2023 Animals study cited by Newsweek found that those who spent at least one night in foster care were over 14 times more likely to be adopted than dogs that stayed only in shelters.
Lisa Gunter, the lead author of a 2026 study led by Virginia Tech's School of Animal Sciences to look at the effects of one-week foster home stays for shelter dogs, said in a news release, "We have yet to find the beneficial limits of a stay in a foster home for dogs in shelters."
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