Birds of a feather stick together, but what if the one of the birds is actually a dog?
In what would typically be an unlikely friendship outside of the world of cartoons, a Chihuahua puppy that can’t walk has made friends with a pigeon that can’t fly.
It all started six weeks ago when Lundy, a Chihuahua that can’t use his back legs showed up at the Mia Foundation, a nonprofit in Rochester, New York, that helps animals with disabilities. There, he met Herman, a pigeon who has been at the foundation for the past year because he’s unable to fly, mostly likely due to a brain injury or the West Nile Virus, according to Inside Edition.
Mia Foundation founder Sue Rogers said the heartwarming friendship began when she put them together while attending to Lundy. When the two started snuggling and ― surprise! ― didn’t peck or nibble at each other, Rogers got out her camera.
“I had Herman in a dog bed and was tending to Lundy. I set Lundy next to him and they looked so adorable that I snapped a few photos,” she said, per Inside Edition.
After Rogers posted the photos on Facebook, the reaction blew her away, she told CNN. Suddenly, she was getting messages of support and donations from around the world ― $6,000 in two days alone, enough to cover a high-end surgery for one of the rescue animals.
Although some people have shown interest in adopting Lundy, the puppy isn’t strong enough yet for that. And there are some who insist that Herman be part of the package.
For animals with disabilities or who otherwise have health conditions, “there’s a chance we could lose them,” Rogers said. “So we don’t want to make anyone really excited. But now I think we’ve gotten a thousand emails asking, ‘Please, don’t ever separate those two!’”
There are at least 100 people who have offered to take both Lundy and Herman, Inside Edition reported.
Rogers told Rochester NBC affiliate WHEC-TV that she understands why people are so doggone smitten over this pair of pets.
“I think the world needs good stories and when you have two species that basically fall in love, it can only touch hearts,” she said.