Sam and Brutus both have health issues, but they will now live the rest of their lives with a loving family and a big backyard.
It was a tearful goodbye for two special shelter dogs who finally got their forever home.
Sam and Brutus are both older dogs with medical issues. They had been passed over for adoption countless times at the Asheville Humane Society in North Carolina.
Sam had lived at the shelter for six months and had been adopted but returned.
Brutus had lived at the shelter for five months after being surrendered to be euthanized.
Then Leslie Sacks walked in and said she wanted them both.
"I said, 'Who's the oldest that you have, the longest that has been here, who has been overlooked? I need that dog,'" Sacks told InsideEdition.com.
Sacks said the family has adopted 50 dogs over the years, always trying to give older dogs with special needs priority.
"These dogs have wisdom, they have love, they've been through a lot and it really tugs at my heart that they are just sitting there being overlooked," Sacks said. "We can't let that happen and we shouldn't let that happen."
But this time, her kids weren't sure they were ready for another dog whom they might have to say goodbye to in a few years. The family's older dogs had recently passed away.
"It was really hard for me to lose the dogs," Siena Sacks, 10, told InsideEdition.com. "I thought my mom would be strong, but that's actually the first time I've seen her cry before."
But like her mom, she decided to open her heart again.
"I realized that giving these dogs the last part of their life was so wonderful because then you just know that you've completed them," Siena Sacks said.
The shelter volunteers and staff walked the two dogs and Leslie out to their car, where they shared an emotional send-off.
Now renamed Bella and Bruno, the dogs have become the best of friends at their new home. They've also brought lots of joy to their new family.
"They changed my life. I'm so happy with them, and my favorite part of being with them is that they're loved and they give so much love back," Siena Sacks said.
And the family hopes they inspire others to take a chance on an older dog.
"You can afford giving the amount of love these animals give you back," Leslie Sacks said. "Go out there and adopt a dog today. You can do it."
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