Emotional Reunion as Sibling Dogs Who Spent 10 Years in a Shelter Come for a Visit

Photo Credit: Animal Anti-Cruelty League, Durban and Pietermaritzburg

The two doggies had spent a decade in the shelter’s care before they were lovingly adopted earlier this year. The emotional reunion with their carers is everything!

KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (20 October 2025) – Sibling doggies Jade and Luca had spent 10 years at the Animal Anti-Cruelty League. They were brought up at the facility, watched over by a team who loved them through every season.

Quietly, the team always kept hope alive that one day, someone else would be able to offer them that same love, in a warm and stable home. In April this year, it happened. After a decade of being shelter pups, Jade and Luca’s forever family finally found them.

It’s been endless love and care ever since.

“Jade and Luca are now living the life that they always deserved – deeply loved, well cared for, and truly home,” the AACL shares.

Recently, the team were overjoyed when Jade and Luca paid them a visit. Instantly they recognised their ex-carers and old home. An emotional moment came when the pooches ran into Alpheous, a dedicated handler who loved them for so many years.

“It was a reunion filled with tail wags, happy barks,” shared the team.

Once just two little pups who needed love and rescuing now have enough love to fill up their corners for a lifetime.

While Jade and Luca are still the same adorable dogs they were for 10 years, they’ve got a new spark to them. One that only comes with knowing that you’re safe in your forever space, with your forever people.

“There is a lightness in them now. A quiet joy. Like they know they belong,” shared the team. “[The visit] was a reminder that every day of care, every act of love, and every moment of waiting matters.”

Animal welfare is often heart-breaking, round-the-clock work, and not every story has a happy ending. It can feel like unbearably heavy work, when animals don’t get the loving chapters they deserve.

That’s what make little visits like this one so rewarding. Seeing Jade and Luca living their happiest chapter yet brought new hope to the team at AACL, who work tirelessly every day.

“To Jade and Luca’s family: Thank you for giving them the world. And to everyone still waiting, we will not stop until they find their happy ending too,” shares the team.