Pepo the rescue dog spent months getting rejected by potential adopters because his underbite, wonky nose, and out-turned feet left him looking like an ‘evil Minion’.
But now, after eight months of waiting, sweet dog Pepo has finally found his forever home.
The dog was rescued by East Sussex rescue charity Animal Angels Global from Spain after he was found begging for food and brought over to the UK to be rehomed.
But Pepo struggled to be placed thanks to his crooked looks and wobbly legs – staying in a temporary foster home for eight months.
After several posts advertising Pepo got no interest, the charity wrote a status from ‘Pepo’s’ point of view.
They wrote: ‘I has bin lookin for a noo familee for a long time now and I’m wondrin if nobody wants me becos of my teefs.
‘Wen I woz helped by the nice peeples at Breton Spannel Rescoo, they sed I wood find a noo family becos I was so hansum.
‘I’m not sure if they wos tellin the troofs becos nobody is askin to adopt me and goin for all the spannels wiv normal teefs.
‘I also has wobbly legs but I can run fast – sumtimes I don’t stop and I bangs me head which I finds very funny.
‘The vet sed that I don’t need any nasty noperashuns for my teefs and legs, I just am a bit wobbly.
‘I love dogs and I don’t even mind cats. I loves children an I come bak wen I’m called and I loves livin in England wiv all the mud.
‘I jus wondered if I’m eva goin to find me own familee – I really really want that and will try very hard to be a good boy all the time.
‘Wood anybody love me and make me a part of their familee?’
That post ended up being shared and commented on more than 27,000 times, with more than 1,000 people applying to take in Pepo.
Jo Strachan, from Tiverton, Devon, was the lucky person selected to be Pepo’s new owner.
Jo said: ‘I think it was just meant to be. He landed in my lap.
‘It’s really weird because obviously the first time they advertised him they didn’t get anybody.
‘I think it’s the way they spoke for him in his post, it really touched everyone’s heart.
‘It was more him talking than everyone else talking. My sister tagged me in the post and I joked, “I’d have him”.
‘I read a little bit more and it said you need to fill in this application, so I was stumbling along with it.
‘My sister is so overwhelmed that I got him. Having gone from ‘look at this’ on the internet to him ending up coming here, it’s surreal.
‘I’ve never been picked as being the right one for anything in particular, so to be trusted and given the opportunity to look after him is a big thing.’
Pepo, who is thought to be two years old, is believed to have been a street dog and suffered violent abuse as a young puppy – with scans and X-rays revealing evidence of fractures and broken bones.
Jo says the dog runs like a ‘newborn lamb or foal’ thanks to carpal valgus on his front legs, which stops him coordinating his feet properly.
Jo and her husband Glen Strachan, 49, had been seeking another dog to keep their pet Bob, eight, company after his companion sadly passed away in November.
So when the 47-year-old saw that Pepo would thrive with other canines in the house, she jumped at the chance to provide a forever home for him.
Despite his traumatic past, Jo claims little Pepo is ‘loving and grateful’ for everything, even snuggling up to her within hours of picking him up earlier this month.
Jo, who is an administrator, said: ‘When you are reading about him, nothing would prepare you for what we met.
‘He is the most beautiful dog, the dog that just wants to be so friendly with everybody, but the dog that has also had the biggest, toughest most awful time as a little thing. He’s so fragile.
‘He’ll sleep with me on the sofa but when we get off, he can’t jump down himself. When he gets off the sofa I have to hold him steady for 10 or 20 seconds so he can stand up and find his feet.
‘He really is just one of these animals where you think, how can he have been so mistreated and still want human company and trust? It’s just amazing.
‘He’s a funny looking little chap and perhaps he was a bit of a target over there. His face has an abnormality possibly. The bottom jaw is quite short.
‘I think his nose has been bopped about but his jawline and his teeth, he could have been born like that. We’re not sure.
‘He’s as comfortable as he can be. It’s just about giving him as good a life as he can have.
‘I don’t know how long he will have – I’m sure it will be, I would hope, a good while.
‘He’s coming out of himself. He started barking, and he gets on well with Bob, my Spaniel. I think he’s a little bit deaf but I’m not sure if that’s selective.
‘He’s really starting to get a pace on [when he runs]. My husband said, “I think it’s alright, I think we can catch him”. But actually, in his wonky donkey way, he can get quite a pace on.
‘He’s very grateful, very loving. There’s no nastiness and no bites. You’d think a dog would have some sort of bite but nothing. Nothing at all.
‘I don’t understand how he can be so loving. All he wants is a cuddle and a gravy bone. That’s it, he wants nothing else.’
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/03/evil-minion-dog-rejected-due-underbite-wonky-nose-wobbly-legs-finally-finds-loving-home-12501889/?ITO=squid
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