April Morgan found a dog tied up in the backyard of the house she bought
The previous owners moved out of the house and left their dog behind
Morgan shared the story of Molly the dog on TikTok and it went viral, amassing over 33 million views
April Morgan was in for a surprise when she started touring what would become her new home.
When Morgan arrived at the property, she noticed something in the backyard that broke her heart: a dog tied up outside and left all alone.
After a bit of digging, she discovered that the previous owners left behind their 10-year-old dog when they moved out.
Morgan tells PEOPLE she was “in shock” and “couldn’t believe someone would leave a dog they had for 10 years.”
In the real estate purchase agreement, the old homeowners noted that they didn’t want to take their pets, including their cat, which they also left behind. They said they would leave the animals on the property for the new owners “if desired.”
“During the house purchasing process, we were worried about what would happen with the dog,” Morgan shares. “So we put it in the purchase agreement to make sure something worse didn’t happen to her.”
Morgan knew that she had to keep the dog, which she named Molly. After their offer was accepted, she immediately untied Molly and let her explore.
She shares Molly’s new life on her TikTok account, where her followers can stay up to date on how she’s adapted to her new life and new family. The original video about Molly’s story went viral, amassing over 33.4 million views.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Now, Molly is a regular member of the family and gets along well with Morgan’s other dogs.
“She’s amazing. She fits right in and she’s spoiled rotten and lies around like she owns the house,” the dog mom says. “She’s such a sweet dog.”
For those who might find themselves in a similar situation, Morgan encourages them “to do whatever to help the dog.”
“I wasn’t trying to hate on the people that left her. I don’t know people’s situations. I just wanted to make sure she was safe and going to be ok,” she says.
“I would love for people to consider not buying dogs,” she adds. “There are so many great dogs at shelters. The local shelter does so much, but is overwhelmed.”
