When This NFL Player Decided To Adopt A Dog, He Had ONE Requirement…

Baltimore Ravens Offensive Tackle Ronnie Stanley may be new to the NFL, but he’s quickly becoming an admirable role model!

On June 15th, the BARCS Animal Shelter posted a “Happy Tail”: Ronnie and his girlfriend visited the shelter to adopt a dog, with fellow teammate and dog lover Alexander Lewis accompanying them. However, their new canine companion was going to have to meet one very important requirement…

“We are looking for dog that’s been here a long time and maybe not-so-adoptable,” he said, according to the shelter’s Facebook page.

Shelter staff were thrilled. “‘Not-so-adoptable’ can mean a lot of things here…senior pets, physically imperfect, on-going medical and more,” BARCS posted.

The three were introduced to a few dogs, but especially bonded with a pup named Winter. Said BARCS:

Beautiful Winter is a dog who has spent most of her six years of life falling into sad, unfortunate situations. She was found on a vacant property, on a hot day with no electricity, or open windows. She was dehydrated and extremely frightened. Winter has a long, hanging belly, mostly likely a result of over breeding–something we see far too often at our shelter. Due to her age, her belly is not something that will ever tighten up. Female dogs with such characteristics are often passed by in our shelter–but not by Ronnie!

Winter was thrilled to go home with her new heroes, giving them plenty of kisses of gratitude!

You may remember another story we posted about BARCS, where a vet tech snuggled a dog following surgery, so she wouldn’t be all alone. These folks really care about their animals!