A dog abandoned by her owner because she was born with a deformity under both eyes has been pre-adopted by a new family in time for the new year.
Cur mix pooch Dutchess, who was called ugly and ignored by visitors at a shelter, will be heading to her new home at the start of the new year.
Dutchess was handed over to Orange County Animal Services in Florida, USA, more than a month ago because her landlord was bothered by a slight birth deformity under both her eyes.
The shelter wrote on its Facebook page: “It doesn’t affect her in any way except one: people cannot seem to get past it.
“The heartbreaking part is that Dutchess absolutely adores everyone.
“She runs up to the kennel doors every day, excited for the new day, relentlessly optimistic.
“For her, each day brings new people, and with that, new hope for adoption. Dutchess doesn’t know a bad day.”
But the poor pup was overlooked by visitors, who refused to give her a chance and only made sad comments about her appearance.
Some, according to the shelter, were: “She looks so ugly. What is that? What’s wrong with her? Is she blind? How much is this gonna cost me? She’ll never get adopted.”
Dutchess was then taken under the care of non-profit association Rescue Dogs Dream, Inc. in Inverness, Florida, which pledged to find her a warm home.
She was finally noticed after Orange County Animal Services posted her photos on Facebook, leading to numerous adoption applications.
Shelter volunteers reported receiving about a dozen applications for Dutchess, as well as a similar number of enquiries asking how to adopt her.
But they finally revealed, in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “A couple things have changed, she is now having surgery on 26th December and she is pre-adopted and will go to her perfect forever home on 1st January.
According to the non-profit, a vet found out that the soft growths under Dutchess’ eyes are in her sight line. He recommended surgery to make her feel more comfortable.
The organisation added: “It is Rescue Dogs Dream’s Christmas wish that people go out and rescue another (unwanted) dog from the shelter.”
It hoped Dutchess’s story would inspire would-be adopters to take a second look at all the overlooked animals at local shelters.
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Story By: Georgina Jadikovska, Sub-Editor: William McGee, Agency: Newsflash
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