Animal lovers were left in tears by an act of kindness shown to a rescue shelter by a local coffee shop.
Julie Saraceno lives in Washington State and regularly volunteers with the Benton Franklin Humane Society, describing it to Newsweek as an “amazing” no-kill shelter.
Recently, Saraceno was on her way to the shelter when she stopped off at a Dutch Bros coffee drive-thru in Kennewick, getting herself—and three of the dogs in her care—a drink.
But what happened next, she said, “reminds me that there are good people in the world.”
Saraceno had ordered three pup cups along with her own order, explaining they were for some of the dogs in the shelter she volunteered with. But, as shown in a video to her TikTok account @juliesaraceno2, the Dutch Bros staff took things one step further.
The video shows Saraceno sitting in shock in her car after a drive-thru staff member told her: “Let’s get them all a pup cup.”
Astounded, Saraceno takes cup after cup from the drive-thru worker, along with dog treats and a full canister of whipped cream to fill them up with. She tells the worker: “Oh my God, I thought you were just going to give me a few cups. Oh my God, thank you, this is awesome!”
The video then moves on to show Saraceno at the shelter—dutifully filling up each paper cup with a treat and whipped cream for the dogs in the Humane Society’s care.
Saraceno feeds each shelter dog a pup cup, from puppies to seniors, tiny dogs to large breeds, some gently lapping up the cream and treat, and others excitedly grabbing the cup and taking it to their bed to enjoy at their leisure.
She wrote over the video: “POV you stopped to get coffee on the way to the animal shelter, asked for a few pup cups, and they surprised you with enough for the whole shelter.”
“Thanks to Dutch Bros for reminding me there are good people in the world,” she wrote, adding that every dog who featured in the video is available for adoption from the shelter.
Her video exploded in popularity, being watched close to 9 million times, and liked more than 2.2 million times, just days after being posted on February 23.
Animal lovers were left in tears, with one commenter writing: “They are all so deserving… Thank you, thank you thank you and whoever that worker was, bless her.”
“We need the name of the coffee shop because they deserve many love and success,” another said, as one pleaded: “Dutch Bros find that employee and give her a raise. This is the best, most wholesome marketing your company could ever get!”
And as another put it: “It cost Dutch Bros a mere few dollars and brought so much joy to all those puppers and doggos.”
Speaking to Newsweek, Dutch Bros local operator Emmily Kirkpatrick said: “Generosity is part of the recipe that makes Dutch Bros so special and this was such a sweet example of the love and care our broistas pour into their communities every day.
“Julie is a regular of ours and often pops by when taking local shelter pups on field trip outings. Our Kennewick crew jumped at the opportunity to blow Julie’s mind and share a little extra Dutch luv and a treat to match.”
Saraceno told Newsweek the café “went above and beyond” for the dogs, admitting: “With all that is going on in the world lately, I’ve been pretty down,” but this “cheered me up so much.”
“It’s a small gesture that meant so much to me, and all the dogs were so incredibly excited,” she said.
Recalling the dogs’ reactions, she added: “Kaydoe and Mommas are independent doggos and grabbed their own cups, which made me giggle. And Rexy, a Doberman who is suspected to have lung cancer, was wagging his little nubby tail so hard.
“There’s nothing better than seeing a shelter dog happy. And I hope the exposure helps them to find the homes they deserve.”
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
