Neighborhood Dog Shows Up at Subway's Door Every Night for Dinner, Becomes Internet Sensation

By Amanda Thomason January 20, 2020 at 12:40pm

Stray dogs are more than an occasional sight in some places. While in many neighborhoods a loose dog will be picked up and taken to a shelter or back home immediately, there are places where the stray dogs roam and are “adopted” by multiple people who look out for them.

That seems to be the case for a pup in Portales, New Mexico, who appears healthy and well-kept but doesn’t have an “owner,” per se.

The dog — which looks like an Australian shepherd mix — has been around for a while, and has made her way around town, seeming to know what she’s about and where she’s going.

She was a familiar face in Portales, but after a young man who works at a Subway there posted a video of her, over 10 million people found out about her.

According to KRQE, people have been visiting the Subway in hopes of spotting the now-famous pup and getting a picture with her.

The Subway employee, Giovanni Luhman, posted on TikTok about “Subway Sally” waiting patiently at the Subway door each night for tasty handouts. She peers in through the glass until some kind soul brings her a little paper-wrapped parcel of goodies, which she inhales before slipping off into the night again.

Luhman says Sally has been a regular ever since he started working about a year ago, and she clearly knows her way around.

In fact, if she doesn’t get her handout quickly enough at Subway, she goes across the way to Taco Bell instead. She looks well-fed, so she probably has other spots she frequents as well.

While hearts were initially warmed at the kindhearted meal, people soon began asking questions. How could she be a stray if she were in such good, clean condition? Why didn’t anyone try to give her a home?

@kxnukoI love her #like #love #cute #dog #straydog #subway #mascot #dogs ♬ The Night We Met – Lord Huron

Luhman had answers for these sharp inquiries. A lady who owns a flower shop next door grooms her, according to what Luhman said in one of his videos.

Sally has had at least 4 litters since Luhman has known about her. When people asked why he hasn’t taken her to the local shelter, he said he wouldn’t take her because it was 20 miles away and high-kill.

He also said he had cats himself and can’t take her in, but that she seems to have a place that she sleeps.

Apparently, some people have tried to give Sally a home, but she’s incorrigibly her own woman and finds her way back onto the streets eventually.

In another video, Luhman films what he describes as a “group of college girls” trying to get Sally in their car, but then he showed another video of the dog back in her same old spot later on.

Luhman explained that a lot of people in his town don’t have enough money to properly care for their pets, which is part of why the strays are so common — and if they continue to have pups, like Sally, the number only increases.

To help out the situation, Luhman told CBS that he hopes to start a pet food drive for locals so that people can feed their animals at home. Hopefully that, along with spaying and neutering, will help decrease the number of pups out on the road.

But for now, at least Subway Sally has people who look out for her, and Luhman promised he and his coworkers would continue to feed her.

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