Despite a Birth Defect, Pig the Dog Beats the Odds and Charms the Internet

An adorable, deformed dog named Pig has been melting hearts all across the Internet with her brave story. Despite being born with multiple birth defects, this 8-month-old, 15-pound dog is beating the odds and gaining thousands of fans.

An Alabama woman named Kim Dillenbeck found Pig in the woods. The dog was smaller than her surviving siblings at about 15 pounds. Her spine is about seven inches shorter than normal, with bones fused together. She cannot swing her head from side to side, so she moves her entire body to see what’s near her. She has been described as hopping like a frog to stand up and walking similar to that of a gorilla.

How did Pig get her name? “When she was really, really little she looked like a little fuzzy piglet,” said owner Kim Dillenbeck to the NY Post.

“I bonded with Pig right away,” she told AL.com. “I thought I’d either be with her or near her helping her find a home. Pretty quickly, I decided to be her mother because she probably wouldn’t live. We assumed that by now, she would be suffocating under her own organs, or something like that, because of her shape.”

The dog named Pig has become quite a celebrity! Since she had a coming-out party during a community event in Birmingham last month, tens of thousands of people have watched Internet videos of this adorable dog. Pig even has her own Facebook page with more than 3,400 followers!

“The whole clinic loves her. She comes in and she’s a rock star here,” said Dr. Rachael Hudson-Breland, a veterinarian who treats Pig.

Hudson-Breland told the NY Post that Pig doesn’t have any major health problems. The dog does get tired easily, and she sometimes loses her balance and topples over. However, considering her condition, she’s in great shape.

“I don’t think Pig really knows that she looks different,” Hudson-Breland said to Charleston Daily Mail.

We hope Pig continues to have a happy, healthy life!

Lead image source: The Huffington Post