Blue Dozer the pit bull, together with his greatest buddy in the world, a small, blind senior dachshund named OJ, was surrendered to Richmond Animal Care and Control (RACC) late last week.
Blue, six, and OJ, twelve, had been pals for four years, but their owner had lately become homeless and was unable to care for them. She took the difficult decision to take them to the shelter on the condition that they remain together.
Christie Chipps Peters, director of RACC, told The Dodo, “She mentioned they had been living in her vehicle for a time and she had gone through some other personal difficulties recently.” “All she wanted was for them to be reunited in a new home.”
Blue is not only OJ’s greatest buddy, but also his seeing eye dog, therefore it was critical that they kept together. OJ is nearly blind and can only see shadows, so he relies on Blue every day to help him navigate his surroundings.
And Blue is more than willing to assist.
Peters knew it wouldn’t be long before the phones started ringing off the line from possible adopters after seeing how lovely — and inseparable — the connected duo was. They were nervous at first, but tiny OJ and Blue quickly became at ease at the shelter, as if they were on vacation.
With a grin, Peters continued, “We don’t see a combo like this very often.” “It’s both funny and lovely.” OJ is a little tiny dachshund, while Blue is a super strong muscular male. It’s really adorable to see them together.”
Peters immediately recognized how reliant they are on one another. Even during fun, Blue never left OJ’s side.
“They’ve been friends for at least four years,” Peters explained, “so they have this understanding of staying by each other.” “It seemed like OJ was Blue’s tiny shadow when we went outside.”
After only two days at the shelter, a family traveled in from nearly two hours away to see the couple. Everyone got along straight away, and the adoption was completed quickly.
However, after returning home with their new owner, the unimaginable occurred: Little OJ was discovered alone by the side of the road, apparently abandoned by the person who had just pledged to look after him.
Fortunately, a passing motorist saw OJ and took him to the Shenandoah Valley Animal Services Center. His new microchip brought him back to the RACC team, who then went to work on recovering Blue from the adopter.
She ultimately surrendered him, and RACC currently has both dogs.
While the shelter conducts thorough background checks on all potential adopters, there are still instances where adopters fail to follow through on their rescue agreements. The RACC crew expressed gratitude in a statement released Wednesday night that the pets were reunited safely.
“We are grateful for the outpouring of community support,” stated RACC. “The only thing that counts is that these wonderful dogs stay together, and that’s exactly what we’ve got… We’re not going to do anything with OJ and Blue Dozer for the next three days except snuggle them.”
