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Lisa and her fiancé, Austin, came to the Humane Society of Utah during our Mountain America Credit Union Fall in Love adoption event in November 2019. They had no intention of adopting a dog – they just wanted to see all the gorgeous pet faces and be surrounded by the excited families who had come to adopt that day.
Then, they saw a photo in our lobby of a dog named Butch that needed a foster home. He was black and tan colored, one and a half years old, and looked like a hound, lab mix breed. There was something about Butch that drew Lisa Ann and Austin in, so they made their way over to our foster department to inquire about him.
“Your foster team warned us that day that Butch did not like tall men, especially tall men in hats, which is the exact description of my fiancé,” Lisa explained. “But when they brought him out to us, he and Austin connected right away. We knew we had to take him home even though we still had no plans to adopt another dog.”
Butch needed foster care because he was sick with kennel cough and very malnourished. He also had bullet fragments in his shoulder. Since he had been transferred from a shelter in Texas, we had no information on his injury, but our medical team said that his leg would have to be amputated if his shoulder didn’t heal properly.
They brought Butch home that day, and he and Austin continued to bond. “He would get so excited whenever Austin came home from work. Every single morning when Butch would hear him wake up, he’d shuffle out from under the bed, hop up, and shove his face in between his neck and shoulder to get morning cuddles. Now, they’re best buds!”
Eventually, Butch’s kennel cough cleared up, and his leg healed. Our medical team assessed him again and saw that an amputation would not be necessary after all. Butch was finally healthy, and he became officially available for adoption on December 7, 2019.
“By then, he’d spent almost a month with us, and we knew we had to keep him. He’s just so goofy! I had no idea that a dog could love balls THIS MUCH. When we wake up in the morning, the first thing he does is get cuddles from dad, then immediately finds his ball and brings it to us. It’s a fun party trick to show our friends that he will choose the ball over breakfast, food, walks, or anything else you can offer him.”
Butch is now three and a half years old, and he can walk, run, and jump just fine. His leg and shoulder barely bother him at all. And he has begun associating tall men in hats with his dad, so much so that if he meets one in passing, he will get excited and try to greet them. He also has a dog sister named Gracie, with whom he loves cuddling and going on walks, and playing fetch.
“We are just so happy we brought him into our family,” Lisa shared. “He’s really an example of not always getting what you’re expecting. We had zero thoughts of adopting a dog that day and just wanted to look at all the animals you had available. The second we saw him, we knew he was meant to be with us.”
