‘Loving’ senior dogs need new home after their owner died. Meet Tom and Zendaya
Two senior dogs have a close relationship — and a shelter doesn’t want them to be separated.
“Though they might not be littermates, Tom & Zendaya have been together for 10 years and are a bonded pair,” a Tennessee animal shelter wrote Sept. 3 in a Facebook post. “They must be adopted together at this time.”
The Sevier County Humane Society said the dogs wait for a new home after experiencing a tragic loss.
“Their owner passed away and there was no family to take them in,” Barbie White, executive director of the shelter, told McClatchy News via email. “Since Tom was adopted from us in 2015, they reached out to see if we would take him in. We always take our past animals back.”
The humane society learned about Tom’s close connection to Zendaya, so it started caring for her in September, too. The pair went up for adoption at the shelter in Sevierville, a roughly 15-mile drive north from the popular Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The dogs bear the same names as actors Tom Holland and Zendaya, a celebrity couple known for their roles in the “Spider-Man” movie franchise.
The shelter said the 11-year-old pups are shepherd mixes who weigh about 60 pounds. They are friendly toward other dogs, with Tom being an extrovert and Zendaya being an introvert, according to the Facebook post and online adoption profiles.
“It can be difficult to find homes for bonded pairs, especially if they are older and larger breeds, as they are,” White wrote. “They are very loving around each other. Tom is more outgoing and Zendaya is still a little scared and hesitant.”
As of Sept. 5, the shelter’s website still listed both of the dogs as being in need of a new owner. Details about the shelter’s adoption process can be found at sevierhumane.org.
