Pasco, Washington - Dexter the dog's health severely deteriorated as soon as he came to the shelter, but thankfully the internet community soon came to this pup's rescue!

Shelter workers were so worried about the German Shepherd that they took to social media to spread the word – and this move made all the difference!

Staff at the Tri-Cities Animal Shelter in Pasco, Washington found the doggo wandering the streets in January.

When he came to the shelter, however, the dog's condition immediately deteriorated further. The sweet pup trembled and appeared constantly stressed.

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Although the Tri-Cities staff showed the dog lots of love, they knew that they needed to find him a home as soon as possible.

"He exhibited extreme signs of kennel stress, including a decreased appetite, weight loss, depression, poor behaviors, and he cried or howled for hours on end," shelter volunteer Billie Wensveen told Newsweek.

The Tri-Cities shelter asked a member of their team for help. Shelter volunteer Julie Saraceno – aka @jsaraceno – had over 78,000 followers on Instagram! But would her following make a difference for poor Dexter?

Saraceno was happy to lend a hand and posted several heartfelt pleas on behalf of the dog to Instagram.

Saraceno's posts about Dexter were a big success, being viewed tens of thousands of times.

About a week after the clips were posted, the Tri-Cities shelter happily announced that Dexter had found his forever family!

Tri-Cities shelter volunteer Wensveen was "so relieved and happy" that someone decided to take Dexter home at last.

Shelter volunteers hope that Dexter's touching rescue story will encourage others to adopt dogs and cats of their own!