After spending almost half her life collecting bats for the Clearwater Threshers, a minor league baseball team affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies and based in Florida, Layla, a white retriever dog, concluded her career last Friday.
In the midst of a magnificent celebration, applauded by the attending public and with the affection of the baseball team members, the end of his career arrived, as can be seen in a video shared by Clearwater Threshers on the social network X.
"Yes, we are crying. Layla's last bat," the baseball team noted in their post.
The 45-second video showed Layla entering the diamond for the last time while the entire crowd cheers her arrival.
Soon after, his companion tells him to pick up one of the bats lying on the ground, and as soon as he does, dozens of people applaud and shout for his effort.
Andrew Davis, the owner of the dog, told in an interview for the local media Fox 13 that Layla became a bat retriever after he reached out to Dominic Repper, the promotions manager of the minor league team.
Davis shared a viral video where Layla was bringing him cans of beer, which is how Repper had the idea to invite the mascot to serve as the official batboy of the team.
"Once it took off, there was no way to stop it. I never would have expected to have a famous dog," Davis told the cited news portal.
However, the work done by Layla over six years took a toll on her, and her pace in picking up bats slowed down.
That fact led Davis, worried about his pet's health, to contact the team’s executives to express his doubts about whether she would be up to the challenge next year.
The team members, along with Repper, came up with the idea of bidding her farewell with an emotional ceremony at the stadium, as well as organizing a retirement party during the game on Friday, July 19.
The video shared by the team on social media quickly went viral, and many people expressed their gratitude, excitement, and tenderness towards the former bat-retrieving dog.
Davis stated to Fox 13 that, although Layla has retired, the role of batty fetch dog will not be vacant for long, as her sister Lucy will take on that role soon.
Recently, a cute message from a puppy in its owner's car in Miami also went viral.
The person left in their car with a little dog, and when they arrived at their destination, they left it inside to protect it from the heat.
For the curious onlookers, a sign explained the reason why the little dog was alone in the driver's seat: "My driver will be back soon. 72°F."
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