Gilligan has been at the Bedford County Humane Society in Pennsylvania since he was a puppy. He unfortunately had a pretty start rough to life that left him with a lot of issues to overcome, so the shelter decided to make him the office greeter — a job he absolutely loves.
“He is a wonderful office greeter,” Joyce Ross, an employee at Bedford County Humane Society, told The Dodo. “Every time someone walks through the doors, he lets us know while he patiently waits for the visitor to bring him treats or even possibly a new toy. He has definitely made progress.”
Recently, someone at the shelter was closing up for the night and put Gilligan in his kennel but didn’t latch it correctly. Once everyone had gone home for the night, he was able to wiggle the door open and set himself free. There he was, all alone in the shelter and free to do whatever he wanted — so he went ahead and threw himself a party.
“He spent a long time checking to see if anyone was in the building,” Ross said. “Once he realized he was alone, he went straight for the toys. One by one, he pulled them out of the pile that we had just received from all of our Christmas donations, and he brought them in the hallway to play with them and to pull the squeakers out.”
Gilligan really let loose and dragged his new toys every which way. His mess spanned several hallways and rooms. It truly was a party for the ages.
When everyone arrived at the shelter the next day, they didn’t need to try and figure out who had caused the mess. Gilligan was right there, so proud of himself and ready to take ownership of the whole thing as he did a little happy dance.
“He had no remorse and he was happy to see a familiar face,” Ross said.
As everyone surveyed the mess, they were happy to see that Gilligan had kept his party relatively contained. He hadn’t gone for the food or anything. He’d only been interested in the toys with squeakers and made it very clear to all of the other dogs at the shelter that those ones were his now.
“Everyone at the shelter thought it was funny that, of course, he wouldn’t destroy anything in the building besides the dog toys, which had no chance,” Ross said. “First, we went through all of the toys to check for any survivors that could possibly be played with again. He spared most of the ones without a squeaker because that is what he was after. Once we recovered some of the toys that could be reused, the cleanup was pretty easy.”
Despite throwing a party without permission, no one could really be mad at Gilligan. He’s had a rough life and just wanted to live out his dreams, and from the looks of the mess, he definitely made the most of it.
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