“She was quiet and just watched everybody as they walked by …”
Published on Sep 26, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Earlier this year, animal control officers found a 4-year-old dog named Ginger wandering the streets of Eastford, Connecticut. They’d never seen a pup quite like her before — atop her head sat just one ear.
Animal control got in contact with Ginger’s owners, assuming they’d be thrilled to hear their dog was safe. Instead, Ginger’s family said they didn’t want her anymore. They said she “escaped too often” and it was too much to deal with.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DOvdJzyk3pO/embed/?cr=1&v=14&wp=810&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedodo.com&rp=%2Fdaily-dodo%2Funicorn-dog-left-heartbroken-after-no-one-shows-up-to-her-adoption-event#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A2166.7000000001863%2C%22ls%22%3A1507.6000000005588%2C%22le%22%3A2143.100000000559%7D
As soon as PawSafe Animal Rescue learned about Ginger’s story, they knew they had to take her in. While they were amazed by her one-of-a-kind appearance, what really blew them away was her sweet personality.
“She was just a fantastic, cute, wonderful dog,” Diane Mangold, director of PawSafe Animal Rescue, told The Dodo. “I can’t believe her owners didn’t want her back.”
Most one-eared dogs, like the puppy below who was rescued in 2018, have two ear canals. But the PawSafe Animal Rescue team learned that in addition to Ginger missing the external part of her second ear, she also had just one ear canal.
Ginger’s unique quirk didn’t seem to affect her hearing in any way. All it really did was make her that much more adorable.
“Closest thing to a real life unicorn,” one commenter wrote below PawSafe Animal Rescue’s Facebook post.
Because Ginger was so special, everyone at PawSafe Animal Rescue assumed she’d get adopted quickly. After they posted a photo of her on their social media pages, dozens of people expressed interest in taking her home. But the day of their adoption event, Ginger was left heartbroken.
“Tons of people responded that they were coming, and then no one showed,” Mangold said. “She was quiet and just watched everybody as they walked by her that day and didn’t pick her.”
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The rescue’s staff members were distraught. All they wanted was for Ginger to find a perfect home. Thankfully, soon after they updated their followers about how no one had ended up taking Ginger home, a young couple came into the shelter to adopt her — and Ginger was overjoyed.
“She was bouncing around the adoption room while they were filling out all the paperwork, all happy to be out, ready to go out the front door,” Mangold said.
After being rejected by her previous owners, Ginger is getting a second chance at life, this time with a family who appreciates and celebrates her for who she is.
If you’d like to support PawSafe Animal Rescue, you can make a donation here.
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Birdwatcher Rushes To Save Two Babies With ‘Fuzzy Butts’ Stuck In Mud
“They’re very susceptible to any kind of ground or air predators, day or night” 😰
By Ashley Ortiz
While the residents of Shelby Township, Michigan, prepared to celebrate Independence Day earlier this year, a bird watcher named Mel spent July 3rd in a different quest for freedom.
It all started when Mel decided to observe wildlife near an up-and-coming housing development. The area was quiet — consisting of a few recently built houses on a large stretch of unoccupied land. But as Mel scanned the area for birds, she quickly realized she wasn’t the only one on the ground.
Within minutes of being there, Mel spotted two black and white specks in the middle of a large, muddy water basin on the property. As she looked closer, she realized they were two ducks stuck in the mud, unable to move.
To make matters worse, they appeared to be concerningly young.
“Both [were] so young that you cannot even tell [their] sex yet, nor are they even fully feathered. You will notice their still ‘fuzzy butts’ in the photos,” Michigan Duck Rescue and Sanctuary (MDRS) wrote on Facebook.
Mel immediately contacted her friend, a volunteer for MDRS, who sent the information to founder and CEO Matthew Lyson. Lyson sadly wasn’t surprised by the message, having rescued over a thousand domesticated ducks since founding MDRS, but seeing these two ducklings felt particularly infuriating.
“Those ducks were barely a month and a half old,” Lyson told The Dodo. “For people to dump domestic ducks is one thing, but when you dump them as babies, it’s even more frustrating because, for the first three months, they have to be on a specific type of food, and people just don’t understand.”
Unfortunately, cases of young ducks being abandoned are all too common for Lyson. And just like his previous rescues, these two ducks seemed to have suffered the same fate of being purchased as babies and thrown away after growing.
“Those ducks should not be dumped,” Lyson said. “People buy them primarily because they walk into these farm stores, and they have a whole bin of 1, 2, to 3-day-old babies, so it’s always an impulse purchase. So people are never prepared to buy them, and then they buy them and feed them garbage, and then they dump them …”
Without food or a single soul in the area to check on their well-being, the ducklings wouldn’t have been able to survive much longer on their own. And contrary to popular belief, they wouldn’t have been able to fly away or fend for themselves if they tried.
“Domestic ducks cannot fly,” Lyson said. “They’re very susceptible to any kind of ground or air predators, day or night.”
Thankfully, Mel found these two ducks, a black Swedish and white Pekin, just in time. Lyson rushed to the scene, as did Kathy, the mother of another volunteer, and the three joined forces to rescue the trapped babies.
“We prepped, then headed into the very slippery and mucky terrain,” MDRS wrote. “Together, we all moved forward … and then it was a ‘final wrap’!”
The trio scooped the ducks into their nets and carefully walked back to dry land to celebrate.
Relieved, Lyson drove the fluffy pair back to his property and introduced them to the hundreds of rescue ducks living at the rescue. The two quickly joined the family, and they’ve been enjoying life ever since.
All the ducks rescued by MDRS are promised lifelong housing and care at the expansive sanctuary. Thanks to Mel’s quick thinking and Lyson’s commitment to saving abandoned ducks in his community, these two babies are now a part of that group — and they couldn’t be happier.
“They’re mixed in with their friends, and they’re doing very well,” Lyson said. “They’re thriving over here.”
To help ducks like these two babies get the care they need, you can donate to Michigan Duck Rescue and Sanctuary here.
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“They’re everywhere. All over. In everything. And they just keep coming in the waves and masses.”
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