Little Boy with Cleft Lip Finds Perfect Match at Shelter: Puppy with Cleft Lip
Many times, the dogs at shelters get quickly picked over.
The healthy, cute puppies and purebreds tend to get snapped up, leaving behind the older, the less recognizable and those with health issues.
One little puppy at the Jackson County Animal Shelter in Jackson, Michigan, had a slight birth defect that the staff noted, watched and concluded should have little bearing on her quality of life.
“She might look a little different than a normal dog would, but it’s not slowing her down at all,” animal services director Lydia Sattler told WGHP-TV.
The pup had been born with a cleft lip, and many people might have passed her over.
But a recent visitor saw her and stopped in his tracks.
The man wasn’t there for dogs at all — he’d come to look at some chickens. But when he spotted the adorable pup with the “disability,” he immediately FaceTimed his wife.
“He goes, ‘I think this one has a cleft lip,’ and I said, ‘Get her! We need her!” wife Ashley Boyers said.
The Boyers have a toddler, Bentley, who was also born with a cleft lip.
His journey was a little more difficult than the puppy’s, but he’d come a long way with the love and dedication of his family.
“We had to sit him up and feed him and hold his lip together in order for him to eat,” Ashley explained, “so it was a process.”
“To see him have something in common with a puppy means a lot ’cause he can grow up and understand that him and his puppy both have something that they can share in common.”
The shelter realized what a match made in heaven this was and shared an absolutely adorable set of photos to its Facebook page last week.
“It’s so hard to put into words how meaningful this adoption is to all of us so we are going to let the pictures speak for themselves,” the post began.
“Introducing Bentley and his new puppy. At 2 years old and with surgeries already under his belt for his cleft lip, Bentley found his match today in this tiny pup who also has a cleft lip.
“They instantly loved each other,” the post continued. “We wish many years of joy as this special pair grow up together!”
Sattler said that the puppy’s “disability is really not holding her back, and as she grows, they’ll be able to see more if there’s anything changing that has to do with that, but she’s really doing well.”
One look at those photos and you can tell that these two were meant to be.
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