Facebook Post Helps Save ‘Gay’ Dog on Death Row

A dog whose owner dumped it at a Tennessee animal shelter because he claimed it was gay was saved from the gas chamber after a Facebook group came to its rescue.

On Wednesday, Jackson TN Euthanasia posted a photo of a bulldog mix facing euthanasia at a rabies control shelter.

The group, which tries to find homes for dogs in kill-shelters, wrote, “He hunched another male dog so his owner threw him away because he refuses to have a ‘gay’ dog!”

The post prompted hundreds of people to call the shelter. Stephanie Fryns, a local veterinary tech, quickly adopted the dog and named him Elton.

Fryns said the pooch “was pretty friendly so far. He’s pretty scared of everything, which is understandable. But he loved the car ride.”

Experts believe Elton's original owner misinterpreted the dog's behavior.

Russell Goldman wrote about the eleventh-hour rescue for ABC News. He said, “Homosexual behavior has been recorded in more than 1,000 different animal species, but it is likely that Elton was simply displaying typical dominance behavior when mounting another male dog, rather than being gay.