Dogs are some of the best animals on the planet. If you give them food, water, mental and physical stimulation, and some attention, they are basically in heaven. Sadly, many people don’t treat dogs with the respect they deserve. Puppy mills are a sad example of this. They are essentially commercial dog breeding grounds that are more concerned about quantity above quality. They often have health conditions and are taken from their moms before they are fully acclimated to the world.
What really makes you sad, however, are the conditions that the moms and dads live in. They are caged up and used to produce litter after litter until they are totally used up.
So when this sweet little chihuahua was rescued from a puppy mill after nine years of living there, it was heartbreaking to see that he hadn’t even experienced a comfy bed before.
When he was finally given a bed by his rescuers for the first time, his reaction is heartwarming.
This sweet little face belongs to Freddie the Chihuahua, a nine-year-old boy who had spent his whole life being used to produce litters in a puppy mill.
Freddie had fathered hundreds of litters and was rarely allowed outside. He was literally being used to death and was given no affection.
Freddie was getting old and was no longer of any use to the puppy mill – so who knows what would have happened to him then. But one weekend, help arrived just in the nick of time. A rescue team called National Mill Dog Rescue (NMDR) retrieved Freddie and 34 other dogs from their puppy mill in the Midwest, where many of the United States’ large-scale breeding operations take place.
Understandably, due to his upbringing, Freddie was quite shy at first, but in no time at all, he began to come out of his shell.
“Life in a cage takes a heavy toll on dogs, both physically and emotionally,” Theresa Strader, founder of NMDR, told The Dodo. “Many of our dogs require extensive rehabilitation before they are ready to become family members, [but] Freddie certainly has a resilient spirit. He is a spunky little guy.”
It was a bittersweet moment when Theresa gifted Freddie with his first-ever bed.
At first, he had no idea what it was. When he finally lay down on it though, he realized the potential of the strange soft thing. He immediately got excited! After nine years of abuse, this was his first time laying on a soft bed of his own.
“It’s heartbreaking to realize they have been denied the very basics until now,” Theresa said.
The best part is that we can see the first time Freddie was given his bed! The rescuers posted it on their Facebook so we can all see. Be careful when you watch it, however, you might cry!
The video instantly went viral with 107k views and over 5k reactions, as people enjoyed the bittersweet sight of Freddie experiencing what a bed is like for the first time.
“Freddie loved his bed immediately,” Theresa said. “Other dogs can be more cautious and have no idea what a soft bed is for, but they learn very quickly. Freddie snuggled in from the beginning, like he knew that this was just one of many perks he will experience [now].”
The shelter hopes to find Freddie his own forever home next. With a viral video to his name and a cute face like his, we don’t think it will take too long at all.
Make sure you watch his video below!
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