Meet Beaux Tox, a Labrador Retriever who was born with a facial deformity and experienced a life of constant rejection and neglect, until he found Jamie Hulit, his soul mate and a true best friend.
Beaux was born with his unique features, a result of being squashed in his mothers womb as one of six pups. “He just kind of got pushed out of the way, and formed how he formed,” Jamie told The Dodo. This was just the beginning of a life of being pushed around for Beaux, whose intelligence and bubbly personality were not affected by the deformity.
“Because of his facial deformity, the people who were breeding couldn’t sell him,” Jamie explained. “So they gave him away for free.” Beaux ended up living with a man who neglected him and left him outside, all alone, for 5 years. He was neglected to the extent that local rescue groups tried to intervene, without success, and all that was left of Beaux was a sad, disease and parasite-ridden bag of bones without a shred of hope left.
And then his guardian angel arrived. Jamie was undeterred by Beaux’s desperate state, and was determined to give him a second chance. “I didn’t care how badly he might be ill,” she said. “I just didn’t want him to go into the foster system again and be returned.”
“I wanted him to have stability and a place he knew was his home. That is why I adopted him outright from the owner. Beaux Tox had already bounced around and I just wanted him to be a dog.”
Jamie could empathize with Beaux as she had been in foster care herself as a child, and knew the feelings of false hope and rejection that come from being passed around from family to family.
Beaux was given intensive treatment by Dr. Jay Rydberg, a dedicated and heroic vet that invested as much time and emotion into getting Beaux back onto his feet as Jamie did. Together they turned the poor dog around, helping him through a chronic case of heartworms which nearly cost him his life. Finally, Beaux was given a clean bill of health, and Jamie was able to take him home with her.
Now he finds himself as part of a happy family, becoming a little brother to another Retreiver called Riley. They have bonded and become best friends. “Riley and Beaux absolutely love each other,” Jamie says about the pair. “They’re perfect for each other even with the age difference (Beaux is 6 and Riley 13) and even though Beaux acts like a puppy — it helps Riley stay young.”
So all’s well that ends well. Despite a life of hardship, Beaux Tox exudes the joy and innocence of a young pup and couldn’t be happier in his new family. “He’s so full of life,” Jamie said. “And he’s just brought so much to us.”
Meet Beaux Tox, a Labrador Retriever who was born with a facial deformity
It’s a result of being squashed in his mothers womb as one of six pups
But his intelligence and bubbly personality were not affected
“Because of his facial deformity, the people who were breeding couldn’t sell him”
So Beaux ended up living with a man who neglected him and left him outside, all alone, for 5 years
And all that was left of Beaux was a sad, disease and parasite-ridden bag of bones without a shred of hope left
And then his guardian angel, Jamie Hulit, arrived
Jamie was undeterred by Beaux’s desperate state, and was determined to give him a second chance
“I didn’t care how badly he might be ill”
“I just didn’t want him to go into the foster system again and be returned”
“I wanted him to have stability and a place he knew was his home”
Beaux was given intensive treatment by Dr. Jay Rydberg, who turned the poor dog around
Helping him through a chronic case of heartworms which nearly cost him his life
Now he finds himself as part of a happy family, becoming a little brother to another Retreiver called Riley
They have bonded and become best friends
“Riley and Beaux absolutely love each other”
“They’re perfect for each other even with the age difference” (Beaux is 6 and Riley 13
“And even though Beaux acts like a puppy — it helps Riley stay young”
Despite a life of hardship, Beaux Tox exudes the joy and innocence of a young pup and couldn’t be happier in his new family
“He’s so full of life, and he’s just brought so much to us.”