Some people believe that dogs and cats can’t be pals, yet Morticia and Gomez managed to persuade a whole stadium of people in only one day. A Good Samaritan saw a dog and a black kitten huddled together between two portable toilets at Hampton Soccer Park in Hampton, Virginia, earlier this week. A bystander decided to draw attention to the unique couple by publishing their location on the private social networking site Nextdoor. A group of animal lovers rushed to the soccer complex, where they found the bonded couple still cowering in the grass, frozen in place.
Getting the two to safety, on the other hand, would be more difficult than they had imagined. Gomez, a 2-year-old Chihuahua, was adamant about defending the kitten at any costs. In a social media post, a Good Samaritan said, “Totally connected… dog is snarling if we go too close so we have contacted animal control and are waiting for them.” “Right now, three of us are keeping an eye on them.” The two were finally taken to a nearby shelter and given time to find their owners. A photo of the couple was shared on the Facebook page Lost & Found Pets of Hampton Roads, VA, prompting Turkan Ertugrul, director of Saver of Souls Pet Rescue, to put down her work.
Ertugrul told The Dodo, “They looked so terrified in the image that it made us take notice.” “We tend to prefer the afraid ones because they don’t comprehend what you’re trying to do when you’re trying to help.” Ertugrul couldn’t get the thought of the connected animals out of her head, especially since she knew they’d be separated at the shelter. “We knew they would be separated since it is against protocol at most shelters to put dogs and cats together for safety reasons,” Ertugrul added. “Their situation kept us up at night, worried about how they were doing without each other.”
With connected animals, Ertugrul knew that physical protection was not the only priority — psychological well-being was also key. Worse, she knew the shelter wouldn’t be able to find a home for the 10-month-old cat and her guard dog at the same time. Most shelters are unable to ensure that bonded couples are adopted together, according to Ertugrul. “They are there to save lives, and keeping a couple that may take a long time to be adopted together would put the lives of others in risk.”
As a result, she made the decision to make room for the couple as soon as they were freed and locate them a house together. Luckily for Gomez and Morticia, shelter personnel didn’t want to separate the interspecies couple either, so they scheduled playdates in a meeting room where they were always pleased to see each other. Now that the animals are happily living together in a foster home, it’s apparent how strong their relationship is. “At first, [Gomez] rushed up to the foster’s black cats, believing one of them was Morticia, and you could feel his regret when he learned it wasn’t,” Ertugrul explained.
When they’re finally together, their bubbly personalities come through, despite the fact that they’re both nice and loving toward others. “When Gomez first meets someone, he is shy, but he warms up fast. When Morticia is there, he really opens up,” Ertugrul noted. “When they meet people together, they are both happier and more outgoing than when they meet people individually.” After they’ve been spayed and neutered, they’ll start looking for a home that will keep them together forever. And it’s obvious that nothing in the world will make them happy. You may contact Saver of Souls Pet Rescue if you live in the Hampton Roads, Virginia, region and are interested in adopting the coupled family.
