Senior Rescue Dog Gets A Fairy-Tale Ending Thanks To His Firefighter Friends

Two dogs show up at an animal shelter: a bubbly young pup and a grizzled senior. Which one finds a new home? Sadly, it's almost always the young one. Most adopters prefer adorable puppies they can love for years to come over seniors that may be declining in health, no matter how cute they are. Ferb was almost another statistic. After the two failed adoptions, the gorgeous senior with salt-and-pepper fur spent years in the shelter waiting for someone to love enough to take him home. He might still be waiting if it weren't for the local fire crew.

Ferb became a regular at Station Five in St. Charles, Missouri, after firefighters learned that the dog loved to howl along with their trucks' sirens. The crew was so amused they essentially turned Ferb into their temporary support animal. He'd come to the station once a week for plenty of play and pets. "Ferb's a pretty laid-back guy," Aaron Buchanan of the St. Charles Fire Department told a local KPTV Fox12 station. "He just turned 10. He's just happy to be around people."

Ferb's time at the fire station ultimately led to his fairytale ending. He was adopted by his forever family just weeks after his story was shared on the news. Now, he's a happy senior dog who loves to hang out in the kitchen.

An average shift for a firefighter might include rescuing cats stuck in trees, pulling lambs from ditches, and giving oxygen to smoke-battered pigeons (although the last one is a little controversial). However, dogs are the animals most associated with firefighters. Athletic Dalmatian dogs used to run alongside the firefighters' horse-drawn water pumps, acting as living sirens and protecting the horses when human handlers were busy. Dalmatians were preferred because they already had an established history as carriage dogs.

Firehouse carriages are long gone, but the dogs remain. They're perfect companions for busy crew members who want to relax between calls. Some dog-friendly fire stations keep a dog on the premises, and others allow the crew to bring pups from home. The dogs are mostly there for comfort and giggles, but they serve a therapeutic purpose, too. Station dogs are often emotional support animals — helping firefighters keep on assisting the public.