Get your tissues ready, people. This is the truest form of love.
Two-year-old Bentley Boyers from Jackson, Michigan, was born with a cleft lip, an opening or splitting of the upper lip. Although it’s been impressively corrected, the young chap would probably wonder why he looks a little different from other kids. However, he now has a “special someone” who looks a lot like him and he’s never been happier. [1]
Bentley’s father, Brandon, had recently gone to the Jackson County Animal Shelter to check out a couple of chickens he wanted to adopt for his son. While looking through the cages, he spotted a little pooch that immediately warmed his heart. This tiny black-and-white pup had a cleft lip just like Bentley, and Brandon knew he’d be a perfect friend for his son.
He immediately called his wife, Ashley, to tell her about the adorable puppy.
“He Facetimed me. He goes, ‘I think this one has a cleft lip’ and I said ‘Get her! We need her!'” Ashley said in an interview with WNYT News. [2]
A fantastic pair
According to his mom, Bentley is a happy little boy who didn’t have an easy start in life. Before his corrective surgeries, his cleft lip had been more serious and made it very difficult for him to eat. Despite his struggles, he was always bubbling, happy, and smiling. Now that he’s got a companion with the same condition, his family hopes he’d grow to understand that looking a little different from everyone else doesn’t make him any less special.
“To see him have something in common with a puppy means a lot because he can grow up and understand that he and his puppy both have something that they can share in common,” Ashley said.
It was love at first sight when Bentley met his lovely pooch. He couldn’t stop hugging and kissing her, all the while smile with so much love on his adorable little face. His infectious laughter rang out as the dog wiggled in his arms. The two-month-old poodle loved him too, as though she could sense they were made for each other.
The adoption was so heartwarming that the Jackson County Animal Shelter wrote about it on the Facebook page.
“It’s so hard to put into words how meaningful this adoption is to all of us so we are going to let the pictures speak for themselves. ❤ Introducing Bentley and his new puppy. At 2 years old and with surgeries already under his belt for his cleft lip, Bentley found his match today in this tiny pup who also has a cleft lip. They instantly loved each other ❤❤. We wish many years of joy as this special pair grow up together!”
The dog is expected to live a normal life
The pooch is only two months and the shelter kept her for about a week before Bentley took her home. She’s a healthy, happy girl who doesn’t seem to have any other medical issues aside from her tiny cleft lip. The experts at the shelter are convinced she wouldn’t have any trouble adjusting and living a normal life.
“Her disability is really not holding her back,” a spokesperson for the shelter said. “As she grows, they’ll be able to see more if anything’s changing, but she’s really doing well. She might look a little bit different than a normal dog would but it’s not slowing her down at all.”
We hope the amazing duo have an awesome life together.
Nothing makes for a happy day like a warm story of the love between humans and their pets.
In 2018, a young Canadian boy named Easton went viral after he visited the shelter and chose the most unlikely companion for a kid. While most children his age would go for newborn, adorable kittens and pups who would learn to love them as they grow, Easton chose a shy, overweight, 10-year-old Marmalade cat named Tiny. [3] He’d been going through the cat catalog and instantly fell in love with the big guy.
The first time they met, Tiny held nothing back as he relaxed in Easton’s arms. Easton took an instant liking to him as well.
Before Easton came along, Tiny had very little chances of finding a family with his age, size, and reclusive behavior, but there’s always someone for everyone. We love to see it!
References
- “A puppy with a cleft lip is adopted by a boy with a cleft lip.” Sydney Page. Shreya Chauhan. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
- “Michigan boy with cleft lip adopts puppy with cleft lip.” WNYT. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
- “Little Boy Picks Huge, Elderly Marmalade Cat After Mom Says He Can Adopt Any Pet In The Shelter.” Little Things. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
