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Pets

What it’s like to adopt a dog, as told through a 14-part comic

Moscow-based comic artist Bird Born explains why adopting a dog changed his life.

Bird Born


Rescuing a pet is an amazing and heroic undertaking.

7.6 million pets go into shelters each year, according to the ASPCA. And of those pets, about 2.7 million pets are rescued by humans who give them forever homes.

Moscow-based comic artist Bird Born experienced firsthand the power of welcoming a pet into your family when he adopted a dog.

Then his journey to understand his newest animal friend inspired an adorable and incredibly moving comic, too.

Follow this artist's journey to help his new friend feel welcome in his home:

Bird Born

Bird Born

Bird Born

Bird Born

Bird Born

Bird Born

Bird Born

Bird Born

Bird Born

Bird Born

Bird Born

Bird Born

Bird Born

Bird Born

Rescuing animals is a big commitment, and of course it doesn't come without challenges.

When adopting any animal, there's fear and uncertainty about their past life. Were they abused? Were they malnourished? How will they respond to humans?

Despite this, Born persevered with his new dog. "It took a lot of love and care to prove this animal that she was loved and needed," he writes in his comic.

Today, he can rest easy knowing one less dog is in need. And that's proof enough that adopting a dog can make the world a better place.


This article originally appeared on 08.23.16.

From Your Site Articles
Science

A dog was surrendered to a North Carolina shelter by its owner for being ‘gay’

via David Boardman/Flickr

A dog at a LGBTQ pride parade.

In one of the most ridiculous examples of homophobia clouding someone’s judgment, a dog owner surrendered his pooch to the Stanly County Animal Protective Services in North Carolina after claiming it is “gay.”

According to WCCB-TV, the owners saw Fezco humping another male dog so they surrendered him because of his sexuality.

Fezco is a brown and black dog resembling a Rottweiler who appears to be 4 to 5 years old and around 50 pounds. The shelter says he is friendly to people and other animals. It didn’t comment on his sexual orientation.

It’s bizarre that anyone would care about their dog’s sexual orientation unless they were a breeder. But if the dog was humping another dog it probably didn’t have much to do with sex anyway.

Younger dogs that have not been spayed or neutered may hump other dogs, objects or legs as a way to practice for when they research sexual maturity. In many cases, dogs of any age will hump another dog to show dominance or during play.

“You’ll often see one dog mount another, then a few minutes later they’ll switch off and the other dog will mount the first dog,” Gary Landsberg, DVM, a veterinary behaviorist in Ontario, Canada, told WebMD’s Fetch. “It’s a common play gesture.

“It’s a play behavior that dogs do because no one has told them it’s not acceptable,” Landsberg added. “It can become enjoyable or a normal part of the dog’s day, so it keeps doing it. It’s the same as jumping up or barking at the door.”

People shouldn’t worry about their dog’s humping behavior unless it becomes a habit.

“The topic draws giggles and laughs, but it’s a very real topic for some people,” David S. Spiegel, VMD said. “Some dogs can become very compulsive about the behavior.”

But if the dog had homosexual tendencies, it wouldn’t be unusual.

According to Scientific American, homosexuality is fairly common in the animal kingdom. In fact, same-sex sexual behavior, which includes mounting, courting and genital licking, has been reported in more than 1,500 animal species from primates to nematode worms.

At first glance, it seems that homosexuality would run counter to the basic tenets of evolution and natural selection. Why would nature favor a trait that would make a species less likely to reproduce?

Researchers at Scientific American postulate that some ancestral animal species may have mated without taking sex into consideration. They had yet to develop the necessary faculties to detect sexual differences so they engaged with whatever they could.

The shelter put out a call for people to adopt or foster Fezco and, according to TMZ, people have been lining up to give the dog a homophobic-free forever home. Upworthy reached out to the shelter for an update on Fezco’s status and has yet to hear back.

While it’s sad that Fezco has had to deal with the trauma of being abandoned by his owners, it may be for the best. Anyone who would ditch their dog because it displayed homosexual behaviors or because they misunderstood a basic behavior probably shouldn’t be trusted to take care of a pet anyway.

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Culture

Betty White fans have donated more than $12.7 million to animal shelters since she passed

State Farm/Wikimedia Commons

People have donated millions of dollars to animal shelters and rescues in Betty White's honor.

Social media can feel like a mixed bag sometimes, so it's nice to be reminded that our constant connectedness can be used as a force for good.

Fans of the late, great Betty White have proven that point with the overwhelming success of the #BettyWhiteChallenge.

When Betty White passed away on December 31, 2021, the world let out a collective, "Well, damn." Everyone knew it was going to happen sometime—she was 99 years old, after all—but people hoped she'd make it to her 100th birthday, which was a mere couple of weeks away.

After her passing, fans wanted to do something to honor her. White had been an outspoken animal lover—a "zoo nut," as she called herself—and did a lot of work for animal welfare when she was alive. So prior to her birthday, January 17, a campaign emerged on social media to raise money for animal shelters and rescues in her honor. No one knows who started it, but it was dubbed the #BettyWhiteChallenge and it soon spread to all corners of the internet.

On January 21, Variety reported that $12.7 million had been raised via Facebook and Instagram, according to parent company Meta. The money was donated by more than 390,000 people.

Best Friends Animal Society shared a video shared by Betty White's publicist on January 18 with a final message to her fans, writing, "We are so very grateful for all Betty White did for animals in need during her lifetime. 😻 We were absolutely blown away by the support we received during the #BettyWhiteChallenge and can’t thank everyone enough for their donations. At last count, we raised over $340,000, which will make a huge difference in the lives of homeless pets across the country. Thank you, Betty White!"

So many Humane Society locations and other animal welfare organizations shared the incredible donations they received in Betty White's name.

From hundreds to thousands to tens of thousands of dollars, animal shelters and rescues received a deluge of donations thanks to Betty White's life of service to animals and reputation for being an all-round delightful human being. She will be missed, but she leaves an incredible legacy, which now includes thousands more animals who are being better cared for thanks to her influence.

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Family

Woman miraculously finds a dog lost three years ago after spotting it on a beer can

via Kim Kuizon / Twitter

Three years ago, Monica Mathis's dog Hazel, a terrier mix, disappeared from her front yard. "She was on a leash outside and I went to get her and she was gone from our yard," Mathis told ABC News.

After an intense search for the dog that came up empty, Monica thought she was gone forever. At the time, Mathis lived in Iowa and later moved to Minnesota for a job.

Three years later, in January of this year, Motorworks Brewing company of Bradenton, Florida, launched a promotional campaign where it featured photos of dogs from a local shelter on cans of beer.

The promotion was to notify the public of the missing dogs while raising money for shelters.

Mathis saw photos of the beer cans on social media and one of the dogs bore an uncanny resemblance to her long lost Hazel. "'Oh my gosh that looks like my dog, I think that's my dog,'" Mathis told KSTP. "I have no idea how she got to Florida."

She reached out to Manatee County Animal Shelter who asked for proof that Hazel was hers."I sent everything I could find -- all the pictures so I could stop an adoption process from happening because I could've lost her again," Mathis said.

via ABC Action News / Twitter

Hans Wohlgefahrt of Manatee County Animal Services compared the veterinarian records and photos Mathis sent and saw it was a match.

"This dog was such an important part of her family that she had everything to prove she was her owner," Wohlgefahrt said.

After looking at the evidence, the shelter agreed that a miracle had happened — Hazel would be reunited with Mathis. "I was amazed, I was crying. An emotional wreck," Mathis said.

Not only will the two be reunited from across the country, the the nonprofit Friends of Manatee County Animal Services has agreed to cover the costs of transporting Hazel to Minnesota.

"I feel blessed that my baby's going to get to come home and I get her back, Mathis said according to CNN.

The story of Monica and Hazel comes with a lesson: make sure you keep your microchip information current. Animal services couldn't connect the dog and owner because the contact information on Hazel's chip was out of date.

"There was really no way we could trace her back to that particular owner," Wohlgefahrt said. "It's a great reminder to people when they do these things to go into their profile and make sure all their contact information is up to date."

"Keep track of exactly what company you use, make sure your stuff gets updated, especially if your pet goes missing and don't ever give up," Mathis said according to The New York Post.

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