I came to a pet store on a Tuesday, much like many mill puppies do, on the back of a truck. I was taken into the store and examined by their contracted vet. The vet found something wrong during examination and informed the pet store owner that I should be taken to the office for an x-ray to confirm her findings. The pet store owner, put me in a carrier on Friday and drove me to the hospital.
A lady with brown hair, dressed in a green apron pulled me out of the carrier. She tucked me under her arm and proceeded to the back of the hospital where there was another lady with a green apron, and a funny looking machine. The lady with the brown hair, held me like a baby and smooched all over me while the other lady manipulated my legs on this machine. Apparently this is the way you take an x-ray. Once they took a picture the lady with the brown hair baby carried me, patiently waiting for my x-ray to process. She whispered in my ear “I will call you Morti”. Morti, what kind of name is that?!?
Turns out I have hip dysplasia. The x-ray showed that the head of my femur is abnormal. Everyone made sad faces, but put me back in the carrier and I went back to the pet store. Puppies with deformities aren’t worth anything to a pet store. So they put me in a back room to make sure I couldn’t flash my brown eyes at passersby, and no one could fall in love with me and my charming personality.
Apparently, while I was waiting at the pet store, the lady with the brown hair was asking all sorts of questions about my condition.
“What will they do with him?”
“What might his condition look like in the future?”
“Is it something he could live a normal life with?”
That night, the lady with the brown hair came to the pet store to pick me up. I live with her now. I call her Mom. She did not name me Morti (thanks Dad).
This day I learned that just because someone thinks you are or calls you worthless . They are wrong. They are so wrong. There is always someone out there that will love you just the way you are. Someone who will find beauty in your flaws (mom likes my bunny hop when I try to run). Someone who will allow you to shine, just the way you are, so the rest of the world can also find the beauty in you too. I am not worthless, no one is worthless.
This is the beginning of my story.