Teacup dogs may appear to be incredibly cute and harmless but the method of breeding that produces them is super risky. Many dogs that are bred to be teacups often have a never-ending list of health problems. That was the case with this tiny chihuahua whose existence was clouded by darkness until, one day, an angel showed up.
20. Little Chihuahua
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Meet the tiny Chihuahua named Brie, a dog that suffered through a lot of abuse. Her name wasn’t always Brie, as she had once been called Hemp. Her scared and cautious nature was the result of a terrible life upbringing.
19. Puppy Mill
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Brie’s terrible state of being was due to her previous owners located in Wales, U.K. You see, Brie was raised in a puppy mill where she had been bred for profit. The owners treated the dogs poorly and didn’t care about their wellbeing at all.
18. Abuse
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Due to her extremely tiny frame, Brie was not capable of withstanding any forms of abuse, especially not terribly harsh ones. Despite knowing this, the puppy mill did not care and she was forced to give birth to two liters of puppies on separate occasions.
17. Birthing Process
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As a very tiny dog, Brie was not able to naturally give birth to her liters. She had to have a C-section with both of her births. Brie was also starved for the most part at the puppy mill and not looked after properly.
16. Terrible Conditions
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The Northern Echo had written that Brie was going to be “drowned in a slurry pit” once she wasn’t useful anymore. Having found out about this, a rescue team called Many Tears Animal Rescue (MTAR) busted in and got Brie. Brie was finally in good arms.
15. Facebook Post
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Once Brie was settled in with the rescue organization, they uploaded a photo of her onto their Facebook page. The photo was Brie next to a can of vegetables. The organization wanted to point out just how tiny Brie is and the comparison worked.
14. Smitten
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One woman, named Claire Stokoe, stumbled across the photo as she was scrolling through her Facebook feed. She instantly fell in love with Brie and knew that she had to be the one to give her a new home. Stokoe went into action from that moment.
13. Contact
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“She could barely see over the top of it and she looked so precious and vulnerable,” Stokoe told The Dodo. Stokoe reached out to the organization to find out more about Brie. The organization immediately told her of Brie’s health problems but that didn’t discourage Claire at all.
12. 300 Miles
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To show just how dedicated she was to rescuing the poor Chihuahua, Stokoe set off on a 300-mile drive to the organization. When Stokoe finally reached MTAR in Wales and met with Brie she was heartbroken by how sad and small the little pup was.
11. Shocking
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“When I saw her I was shocked – she was emaciated and shaking,” Stokoe expressed to The Dodo. “She clung to the lady at the rescue [center] and I wondered for a second if I could really help her.”
10. Injured
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Brie was also not only malnourished but her body had suffered a ton of damager. Her ears had scabs all over them and her legs were scarred from many past injuries. “Her legs bend in the wrong way,” Stokoe explained.
9. Disturbed
Image: The Northern Echo
“I am guessing she has had a break – or a couple of breaks – and they have been left to heal on their own,” Stokoe said. The woman also noticed another problem of Brie’s that she knew was troubling…
8. Darkness
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“[Brie] couldn’t even open her eyes when it was light because she was used to darkness,” Stokoe explained. It seems that many puppy mill farmers keep the dogs locked up in dark cages where they have no access to daylight, regular food, or medical attention.
7. Empathy
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None of this deterred Stokoe in any way and if anything, it made her want to love the dog even more. “I was going through a really bad time with post-traumatic shock and depression after losing my mum,” Stokoe was quoted saying.
6. Drive Home
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On the drive back home, the two immediately clicked. The pair were drawn to each other. “[Brie] was crouched at the back of her little carry case, wide-eyed and scared,” Stokoe told The Dodo. “I took the front of the case off and all of a sudden she ran up my stomach and hid her face in my neck.”
5. Puppy Family
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The best news was that Brie would not be going into a lonely home. Stokoe has three other dogs, Vesper, Bouddica and Dexter, at home as well and they welcomed Brie into their circle with open arms. “Vesper took to Brie straight away as if Brie was her puppy,” Stokoe said.
4. Vesper
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“Vesper let Brie do anything; even eat from her food bowl,” Stokoe went on explaining the interesting dynamic. “[She] had a phantom pregnancy just one month after I got Brie and the vet said that… Brie made her hormones shoot through the roof. She was even trying to get Brie to suckle like a puppy.”
3. Young Puppy
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“She acts very much like a young puppy in many ways,” Stokoe explained. “She races around the house. “[She] plays with toys, chases and throws socks around and slides along the floor dragging her legs behind her.”
2. Happy Life
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Brie is continuing to live a happy and full life with Stokoe and her three other dogs. Stokoe named Brie after Brienne of Tarth, a brave female warrior on the HBO series Game of Thrones. Living up to her name, Brie has stayed courageous through all of her bad circumstances.
1. Loving Home
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“She has constant contact with humans who love her and want to protect her,” Stokoe said. Brie’s life is now filled with tons of happy moments all thanks to one woman who went out of her way to bring her into her home.