Tears as Shelter Puppy Having 'Incredibly Hard Time' Seen Shaking in Corner

Viewers have been left saddened by devastating footage of a terrified puppy at a Minnesota shelter, cowering and visibly shaking in the corner of his kennel.

Staff at Headwaters Animal Shelter in Park Rapids took to TikTok to share the heartbreaking video of Baylor alongside an important message. "Puppies are lifetime commitments," the caption reads. "Please don't get a puppy unless you are fully capable of keeping it for the rest of its life. Poor little Baylor is having an incredibly hard time adjusting here."

Holly Packman, who is the K9 manager at Headwaters Animal Shelter, told Newsweek: "We do not know much about Baylor's back story other than he has most likely only been away from mom for a few weeks and now he has landed himself here with us."

Baylor has only been at the shelter a matter of weeks, but Packman said his personality has already shone through in that time, even if he has struggled with the change.

"Baylor absolutely loves attention, and he tends to be a very 'in your lap' kind of guy," she added. "He has been adjusting slowly, but the shelter life tends to be chaotic and noisy, which overwhelms him at times."

The video shared to social media captured one of those times and drew a strong response. At the time of writing, the TikTok clip, posted under the handle @headswateranimal.shelter, has been watched more than 4.5 million times, with viewers flocking to check in on Baylor in the comments.

"I don't understand how anybody can do this. It physically hurts my heart," one user wrote.

"Please tell me he's with someone safe now. I cannot stand humans," a second commented, with a third adding: "This precious baby looks so frightened. Imagine being taken to a home only to be given up."

Though Baylor's situation appears desperate in the video, Packman said that he is "lucky in comparison to many other rescue dogs."

"He is considered a 'desired' breed, so he does not have to sit here for long, unlike many of our other residents," she said. "They included bully breeds, Labradors, and Australian cattle dogs."

Packman said sadly it is not uncommon for puppies to come into the shelter. "We take in, on average, five to 10 litters of puppies a year," she added. "It truly depends on our space and availability. We get 'singles', what we call lone puppies, pretty frequently."

The fact Baylor is a puppy was always likely to work in his favor, though. A study by the website Priceonomics based on data from Petfinder found that 95 percent of puppies listed on the site were adopted. By comparison, that proportion drops to 75.5 percent among adult dogs.

Packman said the shelter has been blown away by the response to clip. "We really did not expect Baylor's video to blow up like it did, especially since our TikTok doesn't get a tremendous amount of attention," she added.

"With Baylor, we are hoping that people learn that any pet is a lifelong commitment, and it should be a well-thought-through decision prior to adopting or buying a dog."

The good news is that Baylor is pending pickup, meaning the next video of him to appear online could be the one showing him heading off to his happy new home.