The moment a shelter dog at risk of euthanasia realized she was finally safe in the arms of her forever owner left viewers sobbing tears of joy.

On the one-year anniversary marking the passing of Christie Williams' dog, she decided to volunteer in his honor to give a canine from animal control a "freedom ride" to whichever rescue agreed to take them. But when she arrived and met Sarah, a blue nose pit bull, there was an instant connection.

"... I was told she was unadoptable and that a rescue was pulling her," she told Newsweek via email. "What made her stand out was a few things, she was being so tolerant of her kennel mate, Sharon, who was jumping all over her. It was like she had kinda given up and was allowing herself to be trampled."

Sarah's giant, expressive eyes spoke to Williams, asking her to get her out of the animal shelter. Although thin, she leaned into Williams with all her weight.

However, Williams felt it wasn't time to adopt, as she has four other dogs at home. She cried the entire way home, realizing she left without Sarah. The next day, she made it her mission to get her back.

"When I called the next day to ask which rescue, thinking I would adopt her from them, they said I was given the wrong information and she was 'at risk,' meaning on the euthanasia list due to her having kennel stress," Williams said.

Her husband and children surprised her by driving four hours to adopt Sarah while Williams slept in preparation for her night shift as a NICU nurse.

In a July 3 TikTok video posted to the account @sarahthepittie, Williams showed Sarah's reaction to being picked up after spending the weekend to be spayed. Sarah fell into her arms, accepting the love she never received as a breeding dog. The embrace continued for over an hour. Williams kept repeating how she was finally safe.

Screenshots from a July 3 TikTok video of a pit bull hugging her adopter for over an hour after being rescued. @sarahthepittie/TikTok

"When she was hugging me all I could feel how grateful she was, she kept inching herself deeper and deeper into my neck," she said. "I kept telling her it was OK now and that she was safe."

Although timid at first, Sarah has now let her personality shine. She's cuddly and loves sunbathing. Her dry skin and course fur transformed after Williams fed her salmon oil, blueberries, sweet potatoes and the occasional egg.

Williams and Sarah have built a strong connection, more so than her other dogs.

"I can completely understand that going to animal control to adopt an adult dog can be a devastating experience," Williams said. "A lot of times people just want to protect their heart and can't handle the sadness, but these dogs have no chance of getting out unless we take a chance on them, especially pit bulls and shepherds."

Viewer Reactions

Within six days of posting, the TikTok video reached over 5.4 million views, 874,400 likes and 15,200 comments.

"I used to work with rescue dogs and this brought tears to my eyes. It's like she's begging you to never send her back," said a viewer.

Another added: "Pit bulls are so emotional. This breaks my heart. She's so appreciative. Thank you for loving her."

A third person wrote: "And they say animals don't have feelings. That poor thing clearly was traumatized and finally felt safe."

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