A hungry street dog named “Subway Sally” knows exactly where to go for a quick dinner. The homeless dog waits patiently for scraps outside a Subway sandwich shop in Portales, New Mexico, every night; her dinnertime routine has not only stolen the hearts of millions but also raised awareness for other stray animals.
Subway employee Giovanni Luhman introduced social media users to the adorable Sally visiting the sandwich shop, begging for a tasty morsel.
Luhman and his co-workers quickly took pity on the sweet, homeless dog. Whenever Sally shows up and waits patiently by the glass door at the front of the store, employees fix her a plate of cold cuts, which the hungry dog readily tucks into.
Wishing to share Sally’s story with the internet, Luhman filmed their interaction one day and uploaded the seconds-long montage to TikTok, a video-sharing social network platform.
As of March 2020, the video had amassed over 19.6 million views.
After Luhman’s video went viral, people started coming to the sandwich shop hoping to snap selfies with the now-infamous street dog. As comments and questions from animal lovers poured in, Luhman continued to upload video updates on Subway Sally and her daily visits to the sandwich shop.
“So, she’s back,” Luhman said in another update video. “Today, I got her some chicken. She’s kinda messy though... and some turkey.”
“If we’re too late to give her food,” Luhman added, “she'll just go across the street to Taco Bell!”
“Please make her the mascot of that Subway,” commented one TikTok user, “take shifts on taking her home and caring for her.”
In response to being asked why he didn’t adopt Sally himself, Luhman explained that he already has five cats at home.
There could be another reason that Sally is reluctant to settle in an adoptive home. Luhman said in one of the followup videos that Sally has had four litters since he started working at the Subway sandwich shop.
“Multiple people have tried taking her but she never wants to go,” Luhman said in a comment. “I suspect she has a regular place to sleep and possibly care for her puppies.”
“There are a lot of strays in our town; she isn’t special,” Luhman said in another update video. “I live in a very poor town,” he added, “and more often than not, people can’t pay for pet food.”
Luhman is playing his part in increasing his town’s animal welfare provision. He revealed that the overwhelming online response to his Subway Sally videos has motivated him to start a pet food drive in his local area “to help low-income families in hopes that their pets won’t end up on the streets.”
The Subway employee also pledged to continue feeding Sally for as long as she shows up at the sandwich shop. Luhman hopes others too would help animals in need wherever possible.
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