‘Ugly’ Florida shelter canine who went viral defies expectations and finds eternally house
Something is paw-sible.
The “ugly” Florida pup whose heartbreaking battle to get adopted went viral final yr has been welcomed right into a loving house, the shelter introduced.
Lena — previously Duchess — is now a “cherished” member of a household of 4: she joins the couple who adopted her and “spoil her rotten,” and one other rescue canine, stated Rescue Dogs Dream, Inc., who saved her from an Orlando shelter.
Lena even had surgical procedure to do away with her under-eye deformities that made her adoption so tough.
The pup — who was surrendered resulting from a landlord challenge — was born with massive keloids, or tufts of scarred pores and skin and fur, beneath every eye.
Orange County Animal Providers appealed to the general public simply earlier than the December holidays in hopes of discovering Lena a eternally house — and to precise unhappiness over the cruel feedback they heard guests say concerning the distinctive canine.
“She appears so ugly,” “How a lot is that this gonna value me?” and “She’ll by no means get adopted” have been simply a number of the judgments folks made as they hurried previous Lena’s kennel, pretending to not discover her, the shelter said.
“We all know sitting in a kennel, day after day, and watching folks stroll by on the opposite facet of these bars has to take its toll. It’s particularly exhausting when nobody even stops to take a look at you. When it’s a must to watch different canines get pulled, get taken out, get taken house,” the shelter wrote in a heart-wrenching publish.
“The heartbreaking half is that Dutchess completely adores everybody. She runs as much as the kennel doorways every single day, excited for the brand new day, relentlessly optimistic. For her, every day brings new folks, and with that, new hope for adoption. Dutchess doesn’t know a nasty day.”
The publish was shared 1000’s of instances and flooded with feedback from a whole lot of events till the pup was lastly related together with her new household.
The couple, whose identities weren’t disclosed, took Lena house simply weeks after she broke the web.
They helped her by way of a profitable surgical procedure to take away the deformities and frequently take her on hikes and different adventures, Rescue Dogs Dream, Inc announced.
Since settling into her eternally house, Lena has graduated from a stage one doggie coaching class and is on her technique to stage two coaching adopted by a superb canine citizen class.
Her new household described her as “the sweetest canine they’ve ever met,” however admit she nonetheless causes some hassle.
“She’s nonetheless a counter surfer and has helped herself to some sticks of butter and cheeseburgers from the grill however we’re engaged on that,” they stated, in line with the rescue shelter.
“She’s so candy, simply likes to play and be round us on a regular basis … She is an excellent woman and we love her a lot!!”