Moving video shows that shelter dogs are worthy of love, too

By now, we know how Ad Nut feels about murderous beasts (hint: Ad Nut isn’t a fan). But once in a while comes a film so affecting and poignant that even Ad Nut has to make an exception. Maybe—Ad Nut hates to question—some of those crazy-eyed, squirrel-rending creatures are less beastly than others?

The video above, produced by Edelman Singapore, opens by highlighting the stories of nine Singaporean humans who have been through difficult ordeals in their lives, including physical disability, breast cancer and sexual abuse. They were invited to record voiceovers about their past traumas and were then asked to also read out the stories of others who had also gone through trials. Finally it's revealed that the subjects of these similar tales are dogs from five local shelters.

The humans go on to meet their shelter buddies while the video points out that dogs with past traumas are often seen as challenging and pitiful, lowering their chances of being adopted.

The dogs in the film come from CAS (Causes for Animals Singapore), ASD (Action for Singapore Dogs), SAM (Society for Animal Matters), Chained Dog Awareness, and Mutts Rescue. The film is on YouTube and Facebook, and will be supplemented by a series of shorter clips, all under the hashtags #lendavoice and #adoptdontshop.

Devika Panicker, a sexual abuse survivor who was featured in the film, says upon meeting her shelter buddy, Scooby, who was severely beaten by a group of humans (or perhaps 'sub-humans' is more accurate): “I think the best word that comes to my mind right now is ‘hopeful’. Because I think a lot of people look at shelter dogs as kind of hopeless as well. But they are not.”

Ad Nut had to pause this video several times to quickly dab the general eye area. But there’s nothing to see here. Let’s move along, shall we?

Ad Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad Nut loves you. You can also check out Ad Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame, or read about Ad Nut's strange obsession with 'murderous beasts'.