This dog was surrendered to the Jackson Rabies Control Animal Shelter in Tennessee on Tuesday — entirely because his owner saw him mounting another male dog and thought the pitbull/American bulldog mix was homosexual. The dog was scheduled to be put down at 1 p.m. today ... until some sane people on Facebook got involved. Jackson Rabies Control explained the circumstances on a Facebook posting that went up last night:

This guy was signed over to RC, not bc he's mean or bc he tears things up, but because... His owner says he's gay! He hunched another male dog so his owner threw him away bc he refuses to have a "gay" dog! Even if that weren't the most assinine thing I've ever heard, its still discrimination! Don't let this gorgeous dog die bc his owner is ignorant of normal dog behavior! He's in kennel 10L and he WILL be put down tomorrow bc there is no room at the inn!

"Assinine" is putting it mildly. The anti-gay (dog) owner was not only bigoted, but he also didn't realize that dogs often mount each other to show dominance — which is likely what this pooch was doing. The shelter's Facebook post has since been shared over 3,000 times and received more than 500 likes, and the viral rescue seems to have worked: As of this morning, it looks like a woman named Stephanie Fryns, who is affiliated with the no-kill shelter Woof Connections, is literally knocking on the shelter's door:

We tried calling the shelter, but its voicemail box was full, and now we're just getting a busy signal — so they're definitely getting an earful in Jackson. But it looks like Fryns is at the ready:

Update 12:25 p.m. The shelter has confirmed that a new owner has adopted the pup. "I have had about 10 million calls this morning. It has been adopted already. It is gone ... He’s in good hands." a shelter worker told the Tennessean.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at aabadsantos at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Alexander Abad-Santos