๐๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐จ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด โ๐ถ๐จ๐ญ๐บโ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐จ๐ด ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐จ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด: ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ง๐ข๐ท๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ต๐ด.
That was the case for one poor dog, who was often called โuglyโ and constantly overlooked because of her appearance โ until she finally found a family who loves her.
In December, Orange County Animal Services shared a Facebook post about one of their dogs, Dutchess, who was surrendered to their care last year due to a landlord issue.
Dutchess had a โslight deformityโ under both her eyes, which while noticeable did not otherwise affect her health. However, it was still too much for many people to look past.
The shelter wrote that people visiting the shelters constantly passed over Dutchess because of the way she looks. They would make comments saying that she โlooks so uglyโ and ask โwhatโs wrong with her,โ wondering if she was blind โ even though there was nothing wrong with her and she had so much love to give.
โThe heartbreaking part is that Dutchess absolutely adores everyone,โ Orange County Animal Services wrote. โShe 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 doesnโt know a bad day.โ
While no one seemed interested in adopting poor Dutchess, the rescue did not give up hope. They described her as โgentle, sweet, energetic and extremely intelligentโ โ and even a role model for their other dogs.
โShe is so even keeled, our behaviorists use her in play groups to control the other dogs, to calm them, to teach them. She is well behaved, easy to train, and gets along with every dog she meets. We think she is beautiful.โ
Thankfully, Dutchessโ sad life in the shelter soon came to an end: Rescue Dogs Dream Inc. took her in and placed her in a foster home. The rescue wrote that Dutchess was โdoing great and is so happy to be FREEโ and scarfed down a McDonaldโs cheeseburger.
Dutchessโ life quickly turned around: Rescue Dogs Dream announced on December 21 that after many adoption requests came in for her, Dutchess had been โpre adoptedโ by a loving family: โShe will have a new Mom and Dad that treat their pups like kids,โ the rescue wrote.
Vets also determined that Dutchessโ eye growths were uncomfortable for her and in her sightline, so the rescue made an appointment to have them surgically removed. The growths were believed to be dermoids, a rare type of skin cyst.
The surgery was a success โ and shortly after recovering Dutchess was finally off to her new forever home.
Dutchess has been renamed โLena,โ and on March 18 the rescue shared an update, saying that Lena has settled in well in her new home. She recently graduated level one in her doggie training classes.
โEverything is going well!โ the owner said, per Rescue Dogs Dream, Inc. โSheโs so sweet, just loves to play and be around us all the time. Sheโs still a counter surfer and has helped herself to some sticks of butter and cheeseburgers from the grill but weโre working on thatโฆ She is a wonderful girl and we love her so much!!โ
Itโs a sweet happily ever after for a dog who so many people ignored just because of the way she looks. There are so many dogs like Dutchess/Lena out there, and Orange County Animal Services urged people to give them consideration.
โCome to the shelter with an open heart,โ they wrote on Facebook. โLook inside every kennel. Look for Dutchess. Look for the ones no one wants.โ
โThatโs how you save a life. Thatโs how you make a difference. Thatโs how you change the world, for one.โ
Weโre so glad Dutchess/Lena has found the loving home she deserves! Some shelter dogs look a little different, but they deserve a chance, too.
Please share this heartwarming news!
