A puppy with a cleft lip is adopted by a boy with a cleft lip: ‘They instantly loved each other’

Good News Notes: 

A rescued puppy with a cleft lip had been at an animal shelter in Jackson, Mich., for almost a week, and staff worried that the dog wouldn’t be adopted.

Then a man walked into the shelter who has a 2-year-old son with a cleft lip.

Brandon Boyers wasn’t planning on adopting a puppy when he visited

Jackson County Animal Shelter

 last week. In fact, he was hoping to adopt rescued chickens to expand his family’s small farm.

During his visit to the shelter, Boyers, 27, spotted a small black-and-white dog whose cleft lip reminded him of his son Bentley. His thoughts quickly shifted from poultry to puppies.

‘It was pretty shocking actually,’ said Boyers. ‘I had never seen a dog with a cleft lip before.’

He called his wife on FaceTime to show her the puppy.

‘I immediately told him to adopt her,’ said Ashley Boyers, 23. ‘I said to bring her home today.’

Brandon Boyers asked Lydia Sattler, the director of the animal shelter, about the adoption process.

‘I explained that they could take the puppy home two days later, after she had her final vet appointment,’ said Sattler, who was delighted that a family was interested in adopting the dog.

But Bentley’s parents couldn’t wait to introduce their son to his new friend with a familiar face. The next day, Ashley Boyers brought Bentley to the shelter for a visit.

‘They were head over heels for each other right away,’ she said. As Bentley cradled the puppy in his arms and nestled next to her, ‘everyone started crying.’

‘We were all in tears seeing the two of them together,’ said Sattler, who explained that this is the first time the shelter has had a puppy with a cleft lip. ‘The fact that this is something we never see, the puppy came from 1,000 miles away and that Bentley’s dad just happened to be here at that moment, it was just amazing.’

‘The puppy immediately started soaking up all his love,’ she continued. ‘It was genuine joy.’

Bentley, who decided to name the dog Lacey, was born with a cleft lip and has had two surgeries. He has several more procedures to come, including a bone-grafting operation, his mother said.”

View the whole story here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/09/10/puppy-rescue-cleft-lip-boy-lacey/

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