When Alan Moncayo arrives to deliver someone’s lunch, the only thing he might expect to walk away with could be a tip, but when he brought an office lunch out to a Virginia animal shelter, he got so much more than gratuity.
Moncayo arrived with a GrubHub delivery outside the Lorton campus of the Fairfax County Animal Hospital on February 10th.
Walking to the door, he saw a dog staring at him through the window.
“It was love at first sight,” Moncayo, 51, tells PEOPLE Magazine. “He looked at me, and I looked back at him.”
“My daughter’s been asking me for a puppy for the longest time. She wanted a dog so bad.”
As it happened to be a Saturday, Moncayo had his 5-year-old daughter in the car with him, and while the black and white pit bull mix in the window wasn’t exactly a puppy at 65 pounds, he couldn’t shake the feeling that this pooch was special.
He asked if the two of them could meet the dog, named Jihoo, and were allowed to take him out of the kennel to play fetch. Jihoo had been at Lorton for 240 days, ten times as long as the average stay for a dog.
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Since his owners surrendered him, he had become like a mascot for the hospital, greeting visitors, playing with toys, going on hikes, and jumping up on the countertops wagging his tail.
As it happened, Moncayo’s visit happened to coincide with the Super Bowl, and the shelter was trying to drive adoptions around the big game with an “Adoption Bowl” for linebacker-sized dogs.
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Any shelter dog over 45 lbs. was free to adopt, making it all the easier for Moncayo to go home with his dream dog. The shelter added a crate, leash, toys, and food, all free of charge.
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Oh, my goodness…you have found a treasure for you, your family, and especially your daughter. This will probably change all your lives. I am so happy for all of you. We could not live without animals in our lives. They bring immense joy—every day!!! I hope your lives are made so much richer by the addition of Jihoo to your family!