When you bring a dog home and into your life, you make a commitment to care for them forever, no matter what. So it’s always heartbreaking to see people decide they no longer want their pets for arbitrary reasons, abandoning them to shelters.
Recently, one beautiful dog was left at a North Carolina shelter for a particularly bizarre, unjust reason: his owners thought he was “gay.”
According to WCCB Charlotte, Stanly County Animal Protective Services recently took in a new dog, Fezco, after he was abandoned by his owners for a truly insane reason: the owners thought he was gay because he was humping another male dog, and decided they didn’t want him anymore.
Abandoning a dog is always sad, but the owners’ reasoning makes this story infuriating. It shows not only their intolerance but their lack of understanding of basic dog behavior: according to the ASPCA, “humping” is a normal habit for dogs, not necessarily indicative of their sexuality.
And while homosexual behavior has been observed across the animal kingdom (like same-sex penguin pairings) dogs do not have sexual orientations the way humans do — they’re just not particularly choosy about their “partners.”
“Dogs don’t have a sexual orientation; they pretty much do what they want when they want,” a blog post from World Dog Finder says. “They aren’t evolved enough to understand or feel specific sexual attraction towards one sex.”
And even if dogs could be “gay,” it would still be no reason to leave them in a shelter. And yet, that’s exactly what happened to Fezco. The 4- or 5-year-old dog is now searching for a new home, with a family who will hopefully have more of an open mind.
According to WCCO, the shelter says Fezco is a “good boy” who likes humans and other animals. He weighs about 50 pounds. The shelter is looking for a local rescue to provide foster care before he is adopted.
We hope this beautiful dog finds a new forever home soon, one that will love him just the way he is.
Share this story to spread the word and help Fezco find a home!
We Love Animals is now on Instagram! Follow our page for more inspiring stories and adorable photos!
