"We're unsure of how much longer he has," Warren Barkett's new owner said. "I hope that by being able to go home with me that he can live longer."
A dying dog now gets to spend his final days in a loving home instead of a Virginia shelter thanks to a woman who noticed his heart-wrenching story online.
Read: Animal Shelter Pleas for Adoption of Elderly Dog Before He Dies of Kidney Failure
Warren Barkett, a senior Rottweiler-mastiff suffering from kidney failure, got to go home with Leslie Garrett of Norfolk on Tuesday, after spending more than a year at a Virginia Beach shelter.
“We’re unsure of how much longer he has, and I hope that possibly by being able to go home with me that he can have a longer life, [whether] he might have a month or he might have a year or longer,” Garrett told InsideEdition.com.
A few months ago, Virginia Beach Animal Care learned the dog, who they think is about 10 years old, was in renal failure.
"The condition he has is degenerative, so it does get worse over time,” Shelter Operations Supervisor Jessica Wilde explained in a previous interview with InsideEdition.com. “There’s no real time expectancy we can give — it could be a couple of weeks or a couple of years.”
Wilde explained even though they have put out pleas to get Warren adopted, they posted his story on social media again, hoping his newly developed condition would attract a sympathetic adopter.
That’s when Garrett, who works at the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office, decided to reach out.
She explained her last dog, a schipperke named Foxy, had cancer, and she had to put her down last June.
“It was horrible,” Garrett explained. “I’ve missed her every day since she was put down.”
When she applied to adopt Warren, the shelter deemed her the perfect fit.
“He needs a special home because he is not suitable to be around children – he has touch sensitivity,” Nicole Barrera, a caretaker from the Virginia Beach Animal Care, told InsideEdition.com. “He needs someone who can respect his boundaries, and Leslie is an adult and she doesn’t have children in her house [and] she doesn’t have other dogs.”
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In addition to having experience with dogs with special needs, Garrett proved to be the perfect new family for Warren.
“I’ve already bought the food for him that is good for a dog with kidney issues,” she explained, as she was preparing to take Warren home. “It’ll just be Warren and I living in my house, and he has a nice backyard, and he already has plenty of aunts and uncles and other family members waiting for him.”
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