By Lauren Kramer
My best friend and I went into a pet store 16 years ago “just to look,” and she walked out with a tiny little Yorkie puppy. If I didn’t have my own dog at home, I probably would have gotten one too!
A few years later, the news and social media started showing where these pet stores and “breeders” get their dogs, and we were horrified. We both vowed to only rescue going forward. So when it came time for me to bring a new dog into my life, there was no question that I was going to adopt.
I did tons of research on rescuing, which led me to learn about the Yulin Dog Meat Festival in China. I couldn’t believe what I was reading…there was no way it was true. There couldn’t really be an annual 10-day Dog Meat Festival in June in which festivalgoers gather and 10,000 – 15,000 dogs are tortured and then eaten. But it was true – and it is true.
As soon as I learned about the Yulin festival I decided I wanted to adopt a dog from China. I saw Mushu’s photo (at the time he was called Kian) on Instagram at midnight and immediately both DM’d and emailed the rescue. Something about his face spoke to me.
I drove almost two hours to New Jersey to meet him at his foster home, where his foster mother called him Little China Man. Unfortunately, it wasn’t love at first sight. I left, uncertain if this was the dog for me, and decided that if it was meant to be then it would be.
Two weeks later I couldn’t stop thinking about him and reached out to his foster mother. I arranged another meeting and this time I brought my mom. She wasn’t crazy about him either – she thought he was a little funny looking 🤣.
I went home, again unsure, but two days later I couldn’t stop thinking about him and decided we were right for each other. At that point, I learned there was someone else who wanted to adopt him. Once again, I told myself that if it was meant to be, it would be. And I guess it was meant to be, because his foster mother fought for me to get him instead of the other applicant!
I picked him up a few days later and he cried the whole car ride home. He sat at my front door the entire first night and wouldn’t move. By the next day he slowly started to come around and by day three he was snuggling with me on the couch! He still hates the car and makes the craziest noises when he’s in it, but we’ve become the best of friends. And I don’t know how I would have survived the pandemic without him!!!
I don’t know anything about Mushu’s past, except that he was in one shelter in China and then taken from that shelter to the Slaughterhouse Survivors shelter. From there he was brought to the US through True North Rescue Mission. It’s clear that he endured years of abuse as he still jumps when I drop something and gets scared by loud noises on the street. But I give him all the love and encouragement I can and his tail wags whenever I walk in the room, telling me that he loves me too.
Rescuing a dog is certainly not easy, especially one whose past you have no idea about. But I wouldn’t have it any other way!
To learn more about Slaughterhouse Survivors go to https://www.harbinshs.com/
To learn more about True North Rescue Mission, go to https://www.truenorthrescue.org/our-mission
You can follow Mushu on Instagram at mushu_themuppet and you can follow his mom Lauren at @laur813