Animal Survivors that Will Melt Your Heart
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Animals need love and care just like humans do. This is especially true for animals born with physical deformities, and maybe even more so. They need compassion and kindness and, as some of these stories show, a little ingenuity from people who care. Dive in and be prepared to be touched by the heartwarming stories of these five animal survivors.
Sheep Born Without Hooves
Meet Charity, a sheep born without hooves – well, most of her hooves anyway. You see, Charity only has one normal hoof, a hoof with only one toe where there should be two toes, and two other hooves that are just stumps, no hooves at all.
Having no hooves is challenging for an ungulate, or animal with cloven hooves, like Charity. Hooves protect a sheep’s sensitive feet from the harsh elements of their environment. Without most of her hooves, Charity found walking painful and difficult.
Fortunately, Edgar’s Mission, the not-for-profit sanctuary farm in Australia that rescued Charity in April 2013, was able to provide her with special boots to help her walk easily and without pain. Now, Charity can run, leap, and play to her heart’s delight.
Cat Born Without Front Legs
This is Lil’ Bunny Sue Roux and no that’s not Photoshopped. You can call her Roux for short. Her name is a play on the poem Little Bunny Foo Foo and Sue, the most well-preserved Tyrannosaurus Rex specimen ever found. Her other nicknames include the feline T-Rex and bunny cat (because she hops like a bunny, duh).
Roux is a 1-year-old Siamese mix with a bobtail and was born without her front legs. A congenital abnormality is the most probable reason for this deformity. But nevermind, her 152,000 followers on Instagram love her more for that.
Roux’s human is Jackie Deak Akey. Akey and Roux met at the vet clinic where Akey works. “When I saw her it was absolutely love at first sight,” Roux’s mom told MeowBox.
Roux has become an Internet sensation and had her first ever public appearance at New Orleans Cat Art and Film Festival. Get to know Lil’ Bunny Sue Roux in this compilation of her Instagram videos:
Pig Born Without Ears
Here’s Tab Ahti Karuna. Tabs for short. He lives in Lasa Sanctuary, a charity in Ohio where he is part of a large family of farm animals who receive all the love and support they need.
Good for him, right? Tabs needs all the love and support he can get. Life gets hard for a pig with no ears, deaf, and mostly blind.
Tabs used to live in a dog shelter, according to Care2. The owners of the shelter admitted they didn’t know anything about taking care of pigs and were happy to turn over Tabs and five other pigs to the sanctuary.
Dog Born With No Eyes
Here’s another little ray of sunshine. Meet Smiley, a 12-year-old Golden Retriever who was born without eyes due to dwarfism. His owner, former vet technician Joanne George, also describes him as having slightly bowed legs, a large head, and a little crooked when he stands.
Smiley was rescued from a puppy mill along with many other dogs. George and another vet technician got the dogs out of the smelly mill and found them new homes, all except Smiley. Although George tried to search for a suitable home for the sweet dog, she just couldn’t find the perfect one for him. That’s when she decided to keep him.
Since then, Smiley has made great progress and has become a certified therapy dog. His name suits him as he smiles a lot, says his owner. His smile is infectious and is most useful in his work. He has brought joy and countless smiles to people at nursing homes, schools, and helped special-needs kids at the local library in Stouffville, Ontario.
Well, keep on shining Smiley!
Dog Born Without A Paw
Attention! Lt. Dan is in the house. Not the one from Forrest Gump, but this cute little puppy who was born with no paw.
The white German Shepherd puppy was previously owned by puppy breeder Karen Riddle. But now, he’s in the love and care of a 3-year-old girl who is much like him. Sapphyre Johnson, Lt. Dan’s new owner, was also born without legs. Johnson has prosthetic legs and Lt. Dan may have one in the future, too. Shriners Hospital for Children in Greenville, South Carolina has offered to make Lt. Dan his very own prosthetic foot – when he’s big enough – according to USA Today.
It was through Shriners that Lt. Dan and Johnson met. Riddle called the hospital to look for possible patients who might be interested in adopting the German Shepherd puppy and the hospital found the perfect match.
“The first time I showed her a picture of the dog, she looked at it for a moment, and she said, ‘That’s my puppy. He’s just like me,’ ” said Shriners child life specialist Elaine Hardin.
Despite their lack of some bodily features, these animals are no doubt too cute, huggable, and lovable. Don’t you agree?
