Meet Viper: Scott's Best Friend!

Scott and I have fostered a lot of dogs and a lot of times we fall head over heels in love with them. Sometimes we even talk about adopting them ourselves. We've never decided to adopt because we always end up finding homes the dogs love just as much as us and adopting would mean one less space for foster dogs in need.

That was until we met Viper Benjamin!

Viper came to Sophie's Dog Adoption in late July. A woman who knew Sophie had decided to buy a Maltese advertised online.

When she phoned to enquire about the dog the "breeder" told her that she was getting rid of all of her Malteses, including the bitches and studs, because she was going to start breeding Chihuahuas. She told her that she could sell the now popular Chihuahua puppies for $1,600 compared to the $650 she was currently getting for the Maltese puppies.

So this breeder offered the woman a "2 for 1" special and the woman brought the "freebie" to Sophie's Dog Adoption.

This is what Viper looked like when he showed up. He absolutely reeked. This nauseating smell was emanating from his mouth and was made all the worse by the smell of the cheap perfume the "breeder" doused him in before dumping him.

His coat was rust colored from compulsive licking. And worse than any of these superficial things, was the utter lifelessness in Viper.

For the first few days he didn't move. He had no reaction to light or sound: loud music, whistling, city traffic, fireworks, nothing made him look up. The only time he reacted to people was when they would touch his mouth. And he'd snap at them.

As we became more and more worried that he had neurological problems Viper made his first move towards the food bowl and we began to measure his progress in inches and then steps and then one night he crossed the entire kitchen. The first time he wagged his tail we all cried and hearing him bark the first time had us talking for weeks!

After being fixed and having 16 rotten teeth pulled, Viper came to stay with us as a foster. We massaged his legs daily hoping to make them more pliable and his gait less jilted. Scott was, of course, immediately in love and after a month of watching Viper's transformation into a content, comfortable and "real" dog Scott decided to finalize the adoption.

Now he's the resident pup in our place and welcomes all of the foster dogs to our home.

Viper is still progressing and developing, he walks further everyday, smiles more, has started playing with toys, cuddling with humans and making dog friends. These normal dog activities are milestones for Viper because he spent those first 5 years of his life in a cage, never exposed to sunlight and only had human contact when he was moved around for breeding.

Viper is one of the hundreds of thousands of invisible faces that make up the sick reality of backyard breeders and puppy mills. The cute puppies you see advertised online and in pet stores come from these horribly abused animals who don't have enough room to move, who have legs so atrophied they can barely walk, who piss and shit where they eat, who never see daylight or other dogs or caring humans, who are in such ill health they can't walk or chew food, who have to have 16 rotten teeth pulled from their heads.

Please never buy a puppy from a backyard breeder or a pet store.

Viper is one of the minority of breeder dogs who will get a chance at a real life. And he's learning all about the world and finding some tings he really loves, like:

Going for walks around the neighborhood:

Sleeping in his bed (and sometimes even sharing it):

Dogs that look like him (hi Dude! How is your new home??):
Being petted on the head:
and, of course, Scott, his beloved: