When rescuers approached a dog who had been abandoned in a park in Bakersfield, California, they expected her to be hungry.
She had just lost the people she’d depended on, and she was alone in an unfamiliar place.
But when someone offered her food, the dog seemed far more interested in something lying nearby.
A stuffed monkey.
It was the only familiar possession her former family had left with her.
The toy had been tossed out of the car when the dog was abandoned, and now she seemed determined to keep it close.
“When the rescuers came, she didn’t care about food,” Theron Marbury of South Coast Humane Society later wrote on Facebook. “She cared about her monkey, and that’s why we call her Monkey.”
The name stayed.
And so did the little stuffed animal.
What began as a heartbreaking abandonment would eventually lead Monkey to a new home. But her story had one more surprise waiting: the family who came to adopt her would leave with another shelter dog, too.
Left behind in a Bakersfield park
The incident happened at a public park in Bakersfield, California.
According to the account shared by South Coast Humane Society, people nearby witnessed a dog being pushed out of a vehicle.
Before driving away, the people responsible threw a stuffed monkey out with her.
Then they left.
The witnesses were heartbroken.
The dog had been left without her family, and the only familiar thing she had was a worn stuffed toy.
Nobody could know exactly what she understood about the moment. Dogs don’t process events the way people do, but sudden separation from familiar caregivers can be deeply stressful.
There were no explanations she could understand.
No reassuring voice telling her what would happen next.
Just an unfamiliar park and a toy that had apparently been important enough to her that it was left behind with her.
Fortunately, people noticed what happened.
The dog was rescued rather than being left to fend for herself.
And from the beginning, her attachment to the stuffed monkey was impossible to overlook.
A little comfort during a frightening change
Some dogs become deeply attached to particular toys.
They carry them from room to room, sleep beside them, or seek them out during periods of excitement or uncertainty.
For Monkey, the stuffed animal appeared to be something familiar at a time when nearly everything else had changed.
When rescuers arrived, she paid more attention to the toy than to the food they offered.
That reaction stayed with the people who cared for her.
They began calling her Monkey, after the stuffed companion she seemed unwilling to leave behind.
It was an unusual name, but it suited the dog whose story had already touched so many people.
The toy accompanied her as she moved through the rescue system.
She was initially taken to an overcrowded shelter, where staff and volunteers were working to find safe placements for animals in their care.
Eventually, South Coast Humane Society stepped in.
The organization brought Monkey into its care along with another dog named Jasper.
And although Monkey had experienced a distressing abandonment, the rescue staff soon discovered that she still had an affectionate, lively personality.
A dog who hadn’t lost her enthusiasm for life
When Monkey arrived at South Coast Humane Society, she wasn’t the withdrawn dog some might have expected after such an experience.
She was friendly and energetic.
“Monkey was sweet and energetic when she arrived and co-kenneled with Jasper,” Jenifer Alcorn, the organization’s executive director, told The Dodo.
It was encouraging news.
Monkey had been abandoned in a public place, but she was still interested in interacting with people and adjusting to her new surroundings.
Her stuffed monkey remained part of her story.
So did Jasper, the other dog who had been transferred into the rescue’s care.
The two shared kennel space, and the staff became familiar with them as companions.
For a rescue organization, every successful transfer from an overcrowded shelter creates another opportunity.
An animal receives continued care and attention while the organization searches for an appropriate permanent home.
But finding that home can take time.
Monkey needed someone who understood her needs and could provide the space, exercise, and stability she deserved.
Jasper needed a family as well.
At the time, nobody knew whether the two dogs would find homes together.
The photographs that changed everything
The rescue team decided to share Monkey’s story online.
They posted photographs of her with her stuffed monkey on the South Coast Humane Society Facebook community page.
The pictures showed the dog who had been left in a park, still keeping her little toy close.
Her story began attracting attention.
People were touched by the circumstances of her abandonment and by her attachment to the stuffed animal.
For many, the detail was especially difficult to forget.
Someone had driven away and left Monkey behind.
But the dog still had the toy she’d apparently loved before everything changed.
The photographs helped people see her as more than another dog waiting for adoption.
She had a name, a personality, and a story that made people want to know what happened next.
Before long, South Coast Humane Society began receiving numerous adoption inquiries.
People wanted to offer Monkey a home.
For the staff who had taken her in, the response was wonderful.
But they still needed to find the right family.
A family who understood what Monkey needed
Among the interested adopters, one family stood out.
According to Alcorn, they were familiar with Monkey’s breed and had enough space for her to run and enjoy an active life.
Those were important considerations.
Monkey was affectionate and energetic, and the rescue wanted to make sure her next home could accommodate her needs.
The family arranged to visit.
When they met Monkey, they quickly fell in love with her.
It seemed the adoption might be straightforward.
After everything Monkey had experienced, she had finally attracted the attention of people who could offer her a permanent home.
But before the family made its final decision, Alcorn had another request.
Would they be willing to meet Jasper?
He was Monkey’s kennel mate, the dog who had been sharing space with her at the rescue.
Alcorn didn’t know whether the family would be interested in adopting a second animal.
Still, she felt it was worth asking.
And the answer changed Jasper’s future as well.
One adoption becomes two
The family agreed to meet Jasper.
Then they made a decision that delighted the rescue staff.
They would adopt both dogs.
Alcorn later recalled the moment in her interview with The Dodo.
“They came and met her … and fell in love. At the risk of looking a gift horse in the mouth, I asked if they would meet her kennel mate, Jasper. They decided to take them both!”
Monkey had arrived at the rescue after being abandoned in a park.
Jasper had been brought into care alongside her.
Now neither dog would have to leave alone.
The family was welcoming both animals into their home.
It was more than the staff had originally hoped for when they began sharing Monkey’s story.
And it meant that Jasper, who might otherwise have continued waiting for his own adopter, had found a family too.
Home, with her favorite companion nearby
Monkey’s journey had begun with a painful separation.
Her former family had left her in a park, with only a stuffed animal remaining from her previous life.
But the people who helped her afterward made sure her story didn’t end there.
Witnesses noticed her abandonment.
Rescuers brought her to safety.
South Coast Humane Society took her in when she needed a placement outside an overcrowded shelter.
The organization shared her photographs and helped introduce her to potential adopters.
Then a family came forward who could provide what she needed.
And when they learned about Jasper, they made room for him as well.
The two dogs left rescue care together.
Monkey had a permanent home, and her familiar kennel companion was coming along.
The little stuffed monkey that had inspired her name remained a memorable part of the story.
It had been with her during one of the most difficult transitions of her life.
But now, instead of having only a toy for company, Monkey had people who wanted her and another dog to share her home.
The part of Monkey’s story that stays with me
There’s something particularly sad about the way Monkey was abandoned.
Her family didn’t simply leave her behind.
They also tossed out the stuffed animal she loved.
Perhaps they knew how attached she was to it. The available account doesn’t tell us what they were thinking.
But the dog’s reaction when rescuers arrived made the toy’s importance clear.
Food could wait.
She wanted her monkey.
It is a small detail, but it makes the situation painfully easy to imagine.
A dog standing in an unfamiliar park.
The vehicle that brought her there disappearing.
And a stuffed animal lying beside her.
She had no way of knowing that the people who came to help her would eventually find her a family.
Nor could she know that another dog, Jasper, would become part of her next chapter.
Those changes came later.
At first, there was only the toy she wanted to keep close.
The happy ending wasn’t simply that Monkey received attention online.
The photographs and messages helped, but attention alone doesn’t give an animal a permanent home.
What mattered was that the rescue found a family prepared to care for her.
People who understood the kind of dog she was.
People who had room for her to run.
And people willing to welcome Jasper, too.
Monkey’s story had attracted the adoption interest.
But the family’s kindness extended to the second dog sharing her kennel.
That is the detail that makes the outcome especially satisfying.
Two animals needed homes.
And one family decided it had room for both.
When Caitlin Jill Anders reported the story for The Dodo on April 18, 2025, Monkey and Jasper had already been adopted together.
The little dog who once seemed interested in nothing but her stuffed monkey was beginning a new life.
She was no longer an abandoned animal waiting in a park.
She wasn’t waiting in an overcrowded shelter, either.
She had a home.
She had Jasper.
And she had people who had chosen to make her part of their family.
Monkey was abandoned with a stuffed toy that seemed to mean everything to her. But thanks to the people who rescued her and the family who adopted her, she left the shelter with much more than the monkey she loved.
She left with a companion by her side and a home where they were both wanted.
Based on original reporting by Caitlin Jill Anders for The Dodo, published April 18, 2025. Rescue information and statements were provided by South Coast Humane Society, including executive director Jenifer Alcorn and Theron Marbury.
