Every dog has its day! Abandoned pup branded ‘ugly’ by potential adoptive owners due to small cysts on her eyes finds forever home
An abandoned dog who was branded ‘ugly’ by potential adopted parents while she waited to be chosen in an animal shelter has finally found her forever home.
The adorable pooch, called Dutchess, was taken in by Orange County Animal Services in Orlando, Florida, around Christmas in 2022 because of an issue with a landlord, according to reports.
However, due to a few little bumps on the bottom of her eyelids, she struggled to win over potential adoptive families.
Dutchess won fans across the internet after the dog shelter posted a plea for her adoption on Facebook, claiming people ‘couldn’t get past’ her tiny imperfections and made disparaging comments about her appearance.
And as the post attracted more attention, true dog lovers jumped at the chance to care for Dutchess, leading her to finally find her forever home.
An abandoned dog who was branded ‘ugly’ by potential adoptive owners has found her forever home following a social media appeal and an operation to remove small cysts underneath her eyelids. Dutchess (pictured) now lives in a loving home after her Orlando dog shelter struggled to find new owners for her
Fox 35 Orlando reports the pooch was first taken in by the shelter around December 2022 because of landlord issues, and rescuers soon realized she needed veterinary care due to her eyes.
They posted on Facebook that the growths under her eye had been determined to be causing her discomfort by a vet, meaning she would need to have an operation to remove them.
However, before the operation was carried out, the shelter claimed people who came to visit commented on Dutchess’s appearance, and were sometimes disparaging.
According to the shelter, some of the comments included: ‘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 (pictured) has now been renamed Lena after she was adopted by new owners. She was suffering from small cysts underneath her eyelids
The pup was branded ‘ugly’ by people visiting the shelter as staff struggled to find someone to look after her
She has now had surgery to remove the cysts and is recovering well after finding a new family to look after her
The shelter said Dutchess, now known as Lena, has a loving family around her and is well looked after
The pooch, who had to be rehomed due to issues with a previous landlord, now lives in a home with a couple
Dutchess underwent surgery after a vet determined the cysts under her eyelids were very likely causing her discomfort
On 27 December, the shelter confirmed the surgery to remove the growths had been successful and that they were discovered to be dermoids, which are rare skin cysts that dogs are sometimes born with.
Following the social media appeal, the shelter was inundated with adoption requests for Dutchess.
Rescue Dogs Dream Inc. took her in and placed her in a foster home while she was recovering from surgery, before she was later given to her adoptive parents.
The shelter posted an update to Dutchess’s many fans on social media to say she had already wolfed down a cheeseburger and was making herself at home. Her new owners had also re-named her Lena.
Speaking to Fox 35 Orlando, Rescue Dogs Dream Inc said: ‘She now has a new Mom and Dad to spoil her rotten (Dad works from home), and she has a new brother to play with, in her privacy fenced yard.
‘She gets to go on hikes and adventures, and she is a cherished part of the family.’