When Manny and Ina walked into the shelter, they weren’t sure if they’d find the perfect match. They were looking for a new pet to join the family and were waiting to meet Pablo, a Pitbull being housed at the facility.
When Manny approached Pablo, the dog immediately started to growl. Then, he grabbed hold of Manny’s coat sleeve, tearing it to shreds.
“I reach, and he bites my coat and rips and shreds the one arm,” recalled Manny. “And everybody just got quiet.”
“They were like, ‘They’re never going to take this dog now.’”
Although this initial display of aggression would be off-putting and even downright scary for some, Manny understood it on a deeper level. He knew Pablo’s behavior meant the dog likely wouldn’t get adopted by another family.
If Pablo was going to get a second lease on life, he and Ina would be the only ones willing to give it to him.
“I go,’ I want him even more now … I want him bad.’”
Once Manny and Ina made the decision, it was final. They were confident they’d be the perfect family to help Pablo evolve and grow. In an interview with The Dodo, Manny said: “We know we’re going to be dedicated in terms of the love we give and the patience we have.”
After taking Pablo home, the couple started to learn about his dark past.
One time, during an appointment, a veterinarian asked Ina who had kicked the ace in the face. According to X-ray scans, someone had injured the canine when he was very young. This, in light of Pablo’s fear of men, started to make sense.
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