by Allix Ollivier

Allix Ollivier is a Development Associate at Valley Animal Center in Fresno, California. VAC shares their animal rescue adventures with us every month. Check out KRL’s interview with VAC to learn more about what they do.

Ferdinand the Pug is a four-year old rescue from our local SPCA. We took one look at Ferdinand, and even though he couldn’t see us back, we knew that Ferdinand would have to become a part of our VAC family! Ferdinand was blind when we rescued him. He suffered from glaucoma which is an increasing pressure within the eyeball that slowly causes loss of vision. When we brought Ferdinand back to our shelter and had our veterinarian look at him, we noticed that he was suffering from intense pain in his eyes because of the pressure that the glaucoma caused. Not wanting Ferdinand to suffer, our vet said that we had to remove Ferdinand’s eyes. We quickly got Ferdinand ready to go into surgery, and before you know it Ferdinand’s pressure cookers were removed!

Ferdinand

The next week after Ferdinand’s eye removal was a doozy. Despite having already been blind by the time we removed his eyes, Ferdinand was horribly scared waking up from surgery, as expected. From that point on Ferdinand hated being alone and sought to sit in any staff members lap that was close by. He loved snuggling our shelter staff where he felt safe and comforted. He quickly became a staff favorite. Since then, Ferdinand has been learning how to live life without eyes. Our staff has been working with him by talking to him and teaching him how to follow by the sound of their voices. He’s also had one of our temperament dogs, Gunner, helping him out! When Gunner’s here, you can see him and Ferdinand wearing their sweaters with Gunner leading Ferdinand around.

Even though Ferdinand lost his eyes, he still has a lot of heart! Ferdinand is very spunky and playful, and you can usually see him smiling with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. He would be a great fit for a family with children or other animals; he loves to cuddle with anyone! If you’re interested in adopting Ferdinand the Pug, you can stop by our Dog Adoption Center seven days a week from 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Ferdinand is currently up for adoption, and he truly is a beautiful companion! Until Ferdinand finds a forever home, we’ll continue to care for him at the Valley Animal Center. In order to care for canine cuties like Ferdinand and also our lovable kitties we have at our center, we appreciate any and all donations. Contributors like you help support the cats and dogs cared for at our facility until they find their forever home. As always, the Valley Animal Center is grateful and appreciative of any and all donations.

Keep up with VAC’s animal rescue adventures here at KRL, and learn more about adopting from them, volunteering, and donating to VAC on their website If you advertise with KRL you can designate 10% of your ad fees to go to VAC.

Check out more animal rescue stories in our Pet Perspective section. Advertise in KRL and 10% of your advertising fees can go to a local animal rescue.