upworthy

Jacalyn Wetzel

Pets

Rescued dog strangely looks like legendary El Chupacabra causing scientists to study her

She's naked with a face only a mother could love.

Photo credit: Canva

Scientists are studying adorable "el chupacabra" rescue dog.

Dogs, like people, have a variety of features and personalities that help identify them from others. The combination of identifiable features becomes more vast among dogs as they breed with different types of dogs. Depending on the dog combination, you either get an expensive crossbreed like the golden doodle or what is typically classified as a mutt. But one dog named Nina may win the strange genetics award.

Nina was a rescue from Puerto Rico who was found abandoned. The poor pooch had no hair, but that wasn't because of a tragic accident; she is simply a bald dog. Nina's teeth are also...interesting. They jut out from her mouth making it look as if she might be part piranha. Her teeth make it nearly impossible for her mouth to fully close and, yet, somehow, she's simultaneously cute and terrifying.

Nina's not terrifying because she's done anything to warrant that label, but because she eerily resembles the mythical El Chupacabra. You know, the legendary animal at the center of Latin American folklore who allegedly kills livestock and drinks their blood. The description from people who claim to have seen the infamous Chupacabra varies. Some say the likely fictional creature stands on two legs and is huge while others say the animal is small and stands on four legs. But there's a strong theme that's developed between the sightings: the creatures looks dog-like, is bald or balding, and has sharp teeth seemingly placed wildly in its mouth.

Nina, of course, is neither fictional nor infamous; she's just a dog that looks kinda weird and no one knows why. DNA tests reveal she's 100% dog, but she's mixed with a lot of different breeds: Doberman Pinscher, Collie, Mountain Cur, Pomeranian, Chihuahua, Boxer, Chow Chow, Pit Bull Terrier, small Poodle, Labrador Retriever and German Shepherd. Maybe that's where she gets her unique looks from?

The problem is, all the breeds that show up in her DNA have hair, normal teeth, and eyes that close properly—all things Nina is lacking. In fact, her owners have to put artificial tears in her eyes due to the way her eyelids have grown. Scientists are fascinated by the unconventional way her genes have expressed, leading them to study the dog, with her humans' permission of course.

"Nina's health seems to be perfectly normal. We've gotten her tested for everything that we can imagine. She had a surgery called entropion and basically it means the eyelid hair, her eyelashes are digging into her eyes so they create these little ulcers on her eyes. So we got those fixed," Nina's mom tells GeoBeats Animals. "We have artificial tears that we have to put in her eyes because her eyes are, they don't shut. They just constantly stay open so we have to put those in a couple times a day."

While her owners joke with the vet that Nina is a Chupacabra, the truth is that she's just a weird looking mutt that scientists at Cornell University are trying to figure out, which requires bloodwork every six months. They're not sure if she has a congenital defect that causes her unique looks or if she simply lost the genetic jackpot. Either way, her adorably odd mug is stealing hearts all over the Internet. Her dog siblings also think she's pretty neat, giving her lots of extra kisses and snuggles.

Her owner added a last adorable detail, saying, "I feel like the other dogs kind of sense that she's a little different. They love to clean her, they treat her like a baby almost."

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Love Stories

After wife's terminal diagnosis, man builds laundry soap device so she can remain independent

A village from around the world showed up online to help him get it perfect.

Photo credit: Canva

Man builds device to help after wife's terminal diagnosis.

When a loved one is diagnosed with a terminal illness, it changes everything, including things you may not have yet thought about. As their disease progresses, they're able to do less and less for themselves, sometimes resulting in a spouse being the caregiver for their once healthy partner. But for the ill person, maintaining as much independence as possible for as long as possible can be rewarding.

Artur Zamber recently shared a heartfelt story about his attempt to keep his wife feeling as independent as possible after she was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer. The activity she needed assistance with is something that many take for granted: pouring laundry detergent into the cap in order to wash clothes.

laundry; bone cancer; love story; man builds device; kindnessA washing machine. Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

"It was the detergent bottle. She couldn’t press the button with both hands anymore. Bone cancer made sure of that. And when I reached over to help her, she flinched. Not because of pain. Because of pride," Zamber writes in his post. "We’ve always been equals, me and her. Forty years of marriage and we’ve never once said 'that’s not my job.' She grew the tomatoes. I built the trellis. She crocheted the blankets. I chopped the wood. We met each other in the middle every single time. But disease…It doesn’t meet you halfway."

It was this realization that caused Zamber to figure out a way to make the laundry soap easier for his wife to dispense on her own. He got some wood and spent hours trying to design a contraption that would allow the soap to be dispensed with one hand As he worked, he quickly realized he may need some assistance. Zamber posted his sketch and explained what he was trying to accomplish in the Tedooo app, an app for hobbyists and crafters to share ideas or sell things. Soon after the desperate husband's initial post, a village of crafters from around the world appeared.

laundry; bone cancer; love story; man builds device; kindnessHobby Lobby Community - Coupons, Finds and Crafters on the Tedooo app | I didn’t build this because I’m handy | Facebookwww.facebook.com

"I posted a rough sketch. Said I was trying to make something for my wife. Didn’t expect much. But my inbox lit up like Christmas. Makers from everywhere Oregon, Croatia, Argentina sent me diagrams, photos, even voice notes walking me through it like we were neighbors," he says.

After working through the design with others, Zamber created a box that holds the laundry soap and tilts forward so his wife can pour it with one hand. The man is adamant he was not trying to "help" his wife or make something "for her," but was instead making something with her in mind so she didn't feel like she needed him to do everything for her.

laundry; bone cancer; love story; man builds device; kindnessMan kissing woman on check beside body of water. Photo by Esther Ann on Unsplash

"We don’t always get to fix what’s broken. But sometimes, we get to honor it. And that’s enough," Zamber shares.

People were moved by the post on social media with one person writing in part, "This is so beautiful. The detergent holder and everything it represents. Your story is resonating with me today in a very unique way."

"Oh my goodness, what sweet, respectful, strong Beautiful Love. Praying for your wife, and for you, seems she is in very loving hands, what a thoughtful way to honor her independence, and help at the same time. What sweet love," another said.

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Community

Woman on flight sees something wrong with seatmate, stands up to clear the aisle for final goodbye

There's still good in the world.

Screenshots courtesy of Hailey Sand

Woman clears aisle on flight to help passenger see dying grandfather

Even when your life feels like it's falling apart, other people's lives are still going on as normal. Unfortunately, the world doesn't stop because tragedy strikes someone's family, but recently on a United Airlines flight, one woman had a pretty close equivalent. Hailey Ann Sand recently took an unexpected trip after finding out her grandfather was being placed on comfort care as he was nearing the end of his life.

Sand knew she wanted to be there for his final moments, so she booked a last-minute flight and headed out. What was supposed to be a smooth trip wound up being stress-inducing due to the flight landing behind schedule. The airline was aware that some passengers had connecting flights taking off in a few minutes so they made the announcement asking for passengers to extend courtesy to those with tight connections.

airplane, flight airport, airplane passenger, sky, commercial jetblue and white airplane in the sky during daytime Photo by Avel Chuklanov on Unsplash

Sand was one of those with an extremely tight connection when the flight landed in Denver, but as airline passengers often do, many stood up, not allowing others to get off the plane first. It was then that the grieving granddaughter was reminded that there are still good people in the world. The woman shares in a video that she was in seat 31A and another woman, whom she didn't know was in seat 31B noticed the urgency on Sand's face prompting the woman to inquire if something was wrong. After Sand explained that she was in a hurry to catch her next flight so she could be there with her grandfather in his last moments, the stranger sprung into action.

Sand's connecting flight was scheduled to depart in 25 minutes but the aisle was completely blocked. That is, until her seatmate got everyone to clear it.

airports, airplanes, denver, foot traffic, takeoff, airport gatePeople walking inside an airport. Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

"You didn't owe me anything but you stepped out in the aisle and you announced very loudly to everybody to please step aside so that I can get off the plane in a timely manner," Sand says hoping her words reach the woman who helped her. "We landed 25 minutes before my next flight was supposed to depart, and it was a 22-minute walk across the Denver airport. We flew into gate 73ish, and I was flying out of 12. I had to walk all the way across. I just want you to know that I made that flight and I got to be there last night. And I got to tell my grandfather how much I loved him and he got to tell me back and he understood what I was saying."

The grieving granddaughter was able to be there along with the rest of her family until her grandfather passed. She continues the video with an emotional thank you to the stranger saying that her act of kindness changed her life, hoping the video would reach the kind stranger. While the video didn't reach her, the video did reach United Airlines causing several flight attendants and crew to reach out to Sand. Through some detective work, they connected her with a relative who connected her with the stranger, Katie.

@haileyannsand @United Airlines ♬ original sound - Hailey Ann

Turns out Katie wasn't just an average passenger, she's a hospice nurse who deeply understands a family's need to be together during someone's final hours. Sand tells Upworthy it look less than 24 hours to track Katie down and get in touch with her. While the flight they shared was from San Antonio to Denver, Katie just happened to be traveling from work and isn't from either city and Sand lives in San Antonio but is from Washington. The chance seating assignment seemed meant to be.

Once Sand reached her family she left her chance encounter with a hospice nurse to feel the warmth and comfort of the hospice nurses at Samaritan Hospital in Moses Lake, Washington, "They did an excellent job for my grandfather in his final moments but also my whole family in helping us through a difficult time."

@haileyannsand @United Airlines ♬ original sound - Hailey Ann

Sand shares that her grandfather was "a husband of 62 years, a father, a grandfather, a great-grandfather, a brother, a friend, a mentor. He served in the Army and worked his whole life as a farmer. He was the most hardworking man. He loved to travel and has been all over the world. He was very involved in his community, and the world would be better with more people like him in it."

While the woman hoped the video would reach the passenger that helped her on the plane, she likely didn't expect it to reach over 9 million people but since it has she hopes people leave her video with a message of kindness.

"I hope this story continues to resonate with people and inspire them to love each other more, and think twice when the flight crew asks you to stay seated so that people who have a tight connection can get off the plane. You never know why someone is traveling and it’s not always for a happy reason."

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Parenting

Comedian Laura Clery gets candid about setting boundaries while co-parenting with an addict

Here's what she absolutely won't put up with.

Photo by Simon & Schuster and Photo credit: Canva

Comedian Laura Clery gets candid about coparenting with an addict

Editor's Note: This story discusses addiction and its impact on families. If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, the SAMHSA’s National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders. Call 1-800-662-HELP(4357) for assistance.

Coparenting after a breakup or divorce can be hard, especially if the relationship didn't end on good terms. But sometimes, it's not just the relationship ending that causes coparenting to be difficult. Sometimes it's something that directly impacts the wellbeing of the children you have together: substance abuse. Major cultural differences and parenting styles can be hard to overcome, but substance use can affect the mental and physical safety of the children you both love.

Comedian and actor Laura Clery has been open about her own previous struggle with addiction, and has remained sober for more than a decade. The YouTuber got married, welcomed two children, and has since gotten divorced since then, maintaining her sobriety the entire time. But her ex-husband, Stephen Hilton, has had very public relapses since their divorce and, in a recent joint podcast, they shared that one of his relapses contributed to the breakdown of their marriage, leaving Clery on the rollercoaster of coparenting with someone in active addiction.

At the filming of the joint podcast, Hilton, a film score composer, revealed he's been sober. Unfortunately, it was shortly after the filming that he relapsed again. Since clearing the air about their struggles with Hilton's addiction to narcotics, (including fentanyl), Clery has been very vulnerable with sharing what it has been like to coparent with someone in active addiction. Their young children, Alfie, seven, and Poppy, four, are accustomed to seeing their father regularly, and Clery has aimed to continue this normalcy as much as possible even through Hilton's active addiction stages.

In a recent video, she explains how she found out he was in active addiction again and the boundaries she enforced when the producer relapsed.

When speaking about their coparenting relationship, she says, "It's feeling good. It's feeling functional...and I just feel like wow, everything is good. You know, even in his life, he's gotten some music opportunities that are really exciting, and I feel like I'm getting some opportunities with my podcast and making progress on my book. It's just, life is feeling good and then I open up Instagram three days ago to a video of him talking about he's in active addiction, and he's using and he's documenting the whole thing" she adds. "And my heart is broken. And I feel so stupid, and I feel so angry because you were just picking up my kids from...our kids from school."

The best-selling author continues to express disbelief as she recounts all the time he's had parenting the children alone while simultaneously documenting his relapse on the Internet. Clery explicitly states that she still loves Hilton and her goal isn't to bash him, explaining that she views addiction "as a cunning, baffling, powerful and progressive disease. So I don't think he's evil or bad. I think he's sick right now."

Clery explains later, "I guess it just makes it a little trickier when you've got kids in the mix and it's really f***ing sad to me because again, he's such a good dad, especially when he's clean. He's so loving, he adores them and we have so much fun together and yeah, my heart just breaks for the kids." She starts tearing up thinking about boundaries she has to put in place to keep them safe. "Yeah, like over the weekend he was supposed to have them on Saturday. It's like no, you're not seeing the kids. You're on drugs, you're not seeing the kids and they ask for 'daddy, daddy, daddy' and it's like 'no we're not doing daddy's house this weekend, you know, he's busy.'"

In another video uploaded to YouTube, Clery explains that, since his relapse, she holds a firm boundary that he cannot be alone with the kids. She has to be present to ensure safety, which she admits is hard as she says it feels like solo parenting all the time while he's actively using. Thankfully, Hilton has restarted his sobriety journey though it's unclear if he's sticking to it—which was a topic of their most recent joint podcast together.

In the joint podcast, Hilton admits to planning to do "controlled using" where he has periods of sobriety and periods of active use saying, "I've got a feeling that I'm not going to get away with this for very much longer. I feel like I'm walking a tight rope, like my original plan was to stop for 30 days and start again. Cause my point was that I'm blowing my life up anyway. I live on my own, there's nothing to lose. My kids don't live with me, I don't have anything to lose."

Hilton admits to struggling with depression which leads to him feeling the desire to use drugs. While Clery continues to reinforce the boundary around visitation with the children, she remains supportive throughout the episode. At one point she offers up a program that brought him joy in the past: when he was telling his story to people in hospitals and prisons who were struggling with addiction. It's clear that the composer wants to do the right thing and Clery wants him to be better for himself and their children, but boundaries are still required until longevity in sobriety is achieved again.

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