When Kong arrived at Border Collie Rescue & Rehab in Prosper, Texas, entire patches of his fur had fallen off, revealing pink, painful, sunburned skin. He was in so much pain that he could barely stand to be touched, so even petting the poor pup for comfort was out of the question.He'd arrived at the shelter at only 1 year old after being neglected by his first family. Once in a foster home and receiving treatment to cure his nasty skin disease, he proved to be a friendly and affectionate boy, loving being around other dogs and being very well behaved.
Source: Curtis Hartsell
Why he'd been so badly treated in his last home was anyone's guess, but staff focused on finding him a new forever home.Luckily, Kong's charms were quickly spotted by cyber threat intelligence analyst Curtis Hartsell, who got in touch with his foster mom after falling in love with his profile.
Source: Curtis Hartsell
He toldThe Dodo:
His foster mom described his temperament and personality and I described my life to her a bit and she said we sounded perfect for each other. I asked for daily updates through the adoption process and felt as if he were mine from the very beginning and these people were just helping us get reunited.
Source: Curtis Hartsell
When they finally met, Kong and his new dad shared a touching cuddle as Hartsell gave the dog a new name to go with his new life; ZIB, after a famous Soviet space dog:
I got down in front of him and gave him his new name and asked if he wanted to come home with me. ‘ZIB, I'm going to call you ZIB. Do you like that? How would you like to come home with me, ZIB?’ He was sitting in front of me, looked into my eyes and then hugged me and bowed his head. It was adorable; I'll never forget that moment.
Source: Curtis Hartsell
Soon after, man and dog were safely at home together - and having all the cuddles they could handle!
Knowing that this poor puppy was once neglected and all he wanted was to be loved — and that I get to give him that love every day now, it's incredible. I truly feel saved by him and there's nothing I wouldn't do for him. Our lives revolve around each other now and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Source: Curtis Hartsell
Thanks to Hartsell, ZIB got a second chance at love, while the loving dog has given the young man a reason to be happy to come home every day.If you are thinking of getting a pet, please consider adopting through one of your local shelters, such as theASPCAif you are from the U.S. or theRSPCAif you live in the U.K.
H/t: The Dodo
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