Breaking Hearts as Rescue Dog Passes Away After Being Saved With Her 5 Puppies

After posting the tale of a sick dog who asked her to take care of her puppies before dying, a pet rescuer won over hearts all over the internet.

Under the account name @marciaseager, the woman shared the post on TikTok in July. The video depicts the five puppies being saved by the volunteer together with the dog, Annabelle, who passed tragically two weeks prior.

The caption for the touching photo reads, "Yeah, we saved mama and five of her babies. Although she is somewhat ill, she is now safe. We'll look after her. Please take care of them for me.

A rescue dog being stroked by a human hand. A sick shelter canine asking a volunteer to take care of her babies has melted TikTok users' hearts.GETTY IMAGES

The poster also wrote: "It's been one week since you left this earth Annabelle and so many hearts are broken without you. You survived and suffered to provide for your babies for so long, I wish we could have been there sooner. You deserved so much more. I love you sweet girl, look out for me and all the babies I rescue."

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) says around 6.3 million companion animals enter U.S. animal shelters nationwide every year. Of those, some 3.1 million are dogs and 3.2 million are cats. The society adds that the number of pets entering shelters annually has declined from around 7.2 million in 2011, and this can be partially explained by an increase in the percentage of animals adopted.

Of all the dogs in shelters every year, about 710,000 of them are safely returned to their owners, while about 2 million are adopted. Around 390,000 are euthanized because of lack of space in the facilities.

The video quickly went viral on social media, getting viewers from across TikTok. It has so far received more than 728,000 views and almost 167,000 likes on the platform.

One user, Emily, commented: "She hung on until she was sure her babies were safe with someone. She was a beautiful pup, sorry for your loss." And Mothman's Husband posted: "she knew someone would keep them safe."

User5910042971512 wrote: "she knew her babies were safe with you and now she can rest. sobbing. rest in eternal peace beautiful angel." And aurora_ragnvindr added: "Wasn't ready for my heart to shatter at 8 am. She knew her babies would be loved and safe."