TOWN OF TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — It was love at first sight when a little girl and her grandmother locked eyes with Poncho at the City of Buffalo Animal Shelter.
"We went in there just to look," Pat Sheridan explained. "Essie fell in love with Poncho big time. I couldn't do $200. They wanted it on the spot."
As Sheridan tried to figure out the finances, a generous stranger stepped in to help foot the bill.
"As we're walking around viewing the shelter, I'm still getting distracted by this little girl standing next to this crate and I asked the person at the desk, 'Hey, are they getting that dog?' They said, 'No, it's still up for adoption. She doesn't have all the money to get it,'" Detective Dudley said.
The two split the cost; Sheridan had $100 cash and Dudley had the other $100 cash. They told me the animal shelter only accepted cash for adoptions that day.
"I was crying," Sheridan said. "You don't see people being that nice. I couldn't believe that anybody would offer to do that. That's a lot of money."
"I try to put myself in their shoes," Detective Dudley said. "If I didn't have it, I'd hope that somebody did the same for me that day."
If you ask 6-year-old Essie, she's over the moon!
"Excited and happy," she said. "It's really cool."
Poncho officially came home on Tuesday and has made himself feel right at home. And because of this dog, a lifelong friendship has formed.
"She's pretty much in my life permanently now," Detective Dudley said. "We text each other every day. If she doesn't text me first thing in the morning, I'm texting her first thing in the morning."
