One day, a pit bull going by the name of Blue Dozer was abandoned at the Richmond Animal Care and Control (RACC)
But six-year-old Blue wasn’t alone, he came with his best friend, a blind, tiny elderly dachshund going by the name of OJ.
The pair have been inseparable for the last four years, and when their owner was made homeless, she brought them to the shelter.
It was a tough decision for her, but she told the shelter that no matter what, they had to stay together.
“She said they had been living in her car for a while and she had been through some other personal things recently,” Christie Chipps Peters, the director of RACC, told The Dodo.
“All she wanted was to find them a new home together.”
Blue is not only OJ’s best friend of all time, he also acts as his seeing-eye dog. Oj is almost totally blind, and so he depends on Blue to get around.
The adorable pair were a little anxious when they arrived at the shelter, but it didn’t take long for them to settle into their “vacation.”
Peters was confident that the sweet pair would get many offers for adoption:
“We don’t see a combination like this very often. It’s so comical and sweet. Blue is like this super-tough muscular guy, then OJ is a teeny tiny dachshund. Seeing them together is super cute.”
“They’ve been pals for at least four years, so they have this understanding of sticking by each other. When we’d go outside, it was like OJ was Blue’s little shadow.”
It only took two days for a family to adopt the pair, they drove from two hours away and hit it off instantly.
Unfortunately, soon after the pair were taken to their new home, little blind OJ was spotted alone, wandering the side of the ride.
It was assumed that the person who adopted him, dumped him. Thankfully a driver spotted OJ before he got hurt and brought him to the local shelter.
His microchip then led him back to the RACC, who then immediately went and collected Blue back from the cruel adopters.
Unfortunately, despite the shelter’s thorough screenings, there are cases like this where the people who adopt the dogs, don’t keep to the agreements.
Staff at the RACC released a statement saying that they are lucky to have both dogs safely back with each other and also:
“We very much appreciate the outpouring of community support. The only thing that matters is these sweet dogs get to stay together — and in the end, that’s what we have …”
“We will not be doing anything with OJ and Blue Dozer in the next few days other than snuggling them together.”
A few months later, the RACC released this statement on a Facebook post:
“These dogs have taken us on a roller coaster ride of emotion and turmoil and yet remained steadfast in their love for each other and their ability to adapt and overcome vexing circumstances.”
“We hope that their story helped showcase the work that we do at RACC and the commitment we have to each animal in our care. So many people (from across the world) have reached out to us in support and encouragement-thank you!”
“While we are grateful that OJ & Dozer’s story ended happily, the reality is these two dogs make up a very tiny fraction of the animal population we serve and support each year.”
“In the end, we found the perfect home for them here in Richmond.”
We are glad this has story finally has a happy ending!
