Thor shows his love for his new teddy bear.
A dog walks into a toy store and the world gets a little bit better. That was the case for a large brown and white mutt who wandered into the Plaza Las Americas shopping mall in Yucatan, Mexico. The love surrounding him was so apparent and served as genuine proof that just a tiny act of kindness can change the life of a human and an animal.
On @Animalwatchofficial's Instagram page, they posted a (now viral) video showing said dog entering a mall's toy store. The chyron reads: "A stray dog walked into a store, picked up a stuffed toy and people came together to buy it for him." We see a bouncy, floppy-eared pooch in the shop's colorfully lit entrance, with his mouth on a fluffy, white teddy bear toy.
Playing a bit of tug-of-war with a store employee, people begin to gather as the happy dog seems to simply want to have a good time. The employee occasionally pats him on the head. As our canine friend continues to pull, we see money exchanged to buy him the toy as a gift. Before we know it, the price tag is being pulled off and our dog pal is galloping through the store with joy.
He runs out into the mall to proudly show off his toy to anyone who will look and then runs back in as many rejoice. His pure, unadulterated happiness is a reminder that life can be filled with delight at every turn.
The post has over 105,000 likes and thousands of comments praising the wonderfully sweet moment. One person writes, "This broke and mended my heart." Another shares, "This is so cute. Best day of the dog's life."
There are also updates. One Instagrammer writes, "His new name THOR. Someone saw this video and decided to search for him and gave him a home, family of his own. Latest picture was he's taking a nap with the same toy, and a video in a backyard playing fetch with a long leash on him."
After a bit of digging, we found the adopter, though the story is a bit more complex (but still joyous). He's a man named Allan and in an online video in Spanish with English subtitles, a reporter introduces him "With Thor, the most viral puppy in Mexico." We see Thor on a red leash and he's asked, "How are you, my dear?" Allan, his adopted dad, explains, "I decided to call him Thor because he's actually a very strong dog. He already broke a window, broke a grill."
The interviewer reaffirms, "You decided to call him Thor because of his strength." They laugh about Thor's many adorable faux pas in the house. Then the interviewer asks, "What happened to the stuffed animal?" Turns out Thor might have dropped it along the way, somewhere near a Starbucks.
When asked why he decided to adopt the pup, it turns out he had already discovered Thor before he saw the viral video! He had taken him home, but Thor escaped through a window. He then miraculously saw the viral video of Thor online. Through the help of the local community, Allan was able to track Thor down and essentially adopted him "for a second time."
He says, "It's good to give these little animals a second chance." We see Thor happily sniffing the grass around him and he even gives a little kiss to the camera.
Upworthy spoke to Allan, who shares that Thor is doing well and "has lots of siblings, including cats Simba and Beany who were adopted too." He adds, "Maybe in the future, I'm gonna talk about the iguanas that were the first adoptions I had."
When asked further about Thor's back-story, Allan shares a bit more, sprinkling in the story written on Noticias con Perritos page. Allan had been at the Padel courts where he "works as a coach when suddenly a brindle dog walked in and started playing all over the place." He said he "noticed that the dog was bothering some clients, and he felt moved when people tried to chase him away. The dog looked abandoned and clearly longed for a home." So, Allen "decided to take him home with the intention of helping him find a family. However, the pup was so used to living on the streets and had so much strength that he broke a window and escaped."
Allan "didn't expect that this mischievous dog would show up at Plaza Las Americas in Merida, Yucatan, bringing an entire community together."
Allan says when Thor saw him, he immediately recognized him. "It wasn't difficult at all to get him to the car." He then promised Thor that he "would never experience abandonment or loneliness on the streets again." Allan adds, "A group called Esterilizando Patitas offered free veterinary care and a full health plan so Thor could have a great quality of life."
According to data shared on World Footprints, "70 percent of the 18 million dogs in Mexico live on the street, born as strays or simply abandoned." Luckily, as Allan discovered, there are street-vet non-profits ready to help. In a past article on Upworthy, I wrote about such vets around the world who offer "judgment free" vet services to unhoused people with pets and strays.
Thor gets chin scratches. Photo Credit: Used with permission by Allan Marmolejo
As for Thor? He's living his absolute best life with his loving family, many pet siblings, and lots of parks in which to run and squeaky toys to squeeze.