DANVILLE, Va. (WDBJ) – After being abandonded and diagnosed with diabetes, one lucky shelter dog is now in a new home with a family who understands his condition better than anyone.
Finding a forever home… It’s the dream for shelter dogs everywhere.
“He is 10 pounds of just pure, happy dog,” said Brittany Hardiman, holding Taki, the newest addition of her family.
Taki is a 7-year-old chihuahua found abandoned by Danville Police and taken to the Animal Medical Center of Danville because he looked sick. He was diagnosed with diabetes.
Staff were worried being an older dog with diabetes meant he wouldn’t get adopted, but fears quickly disappeared. Brittany, a veterinary technician at the center, came to work.
“He sticks his little head through the bars and just looks at me and he would not stop… Everybody’s like Brittany, that is definitely your dog, and I’m like, no, that’s not my dog,” Brittany said. “They’re like, watch girl. It is your dog. Give it a minute.”
Hardiman’s coworkers were right. Hardiman said it was an instant connection with her newest patient. Just a few days after Taki arrived, he was already heading to Hardiman’s home in North Carolina.
“There’s something about this dog that needed us. And I couldn’t let something go away just because it had diabetes, that’s not a give up quality,” said Hardiman.
Diabetes is no stranger in the Hardman house. Brittany’s daughter, Serenity, also has it. It’s what made Taki the perfect fit in their home.
“It doesn’t really feel too different than just being a normal kid with a regular dog because there’s things I have to do everyday to take care of myself and he has to do them, too. So it’s like, he sees me do it, I see him do it. It’s normal, it’s regular, it’s nothing out of the ordinary,” said Serenity. “
It’s not an easy task taking care of a dog with diabetes. But luckily, Brittany and Serenity are experts.
“If something happens, you’ve got me being the vet tech, I can care for him. When I’m not home, she has all the knowledge needed to take care of him as well and can handle any emergency that I can… He fit in just perfectly,” said Brittany.
From abandoned and sick, to loved and heathy… Taki is the best patient-to-pet Brittany could ever ask for.
“It’s like we were missing something and now we have it, and now things just feel kind of whole and complete,” said Brittany.
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