JULIE LEROY: Was it love at first sight? It
was shock and awe. They did not know if she would live, but I was smitten, immediately.
JULIE LEROY: There is nothing that Cuda can’t
do. Okay, there is one thing she can’t do, she can’t kind of scratch herself behind
the ear like a regular dog. Other than that, she jumps, she runs so fast, she plays with
the other dogs.
COMM: This unusual looking dog is Cuda. She
has Short Spine Syndrome and is one of around 17 dogs known to have the condition in the world.
JULIE LEROY: She literally has a compressed
spine, she’s not missing vertebra, but her spine is compressed at her neckline and at
her tail line. Her ribs are normal size, which is why they look so expanded. She’s got
a slopped back, her rear legs bear the weight, so they’re more muscular than her front
legs. Her one paw is bigger than the other. Her ears don’t actually sit on her head
the exact same way. And she has a bobtail. I can’t find a veterinarian who’s ever
seen anything like this.
COMM: Julie came to adopt Cuda when she working
as an animal control officer in North Carolina.
JULIE LEROY: This is the actual picture that
I texted to Scott when I saw Cuda. We didn’t know if she would even live the year and I
didn’t want her to die in a shelter.
SCOTT LEROY: When she brought her home I was
like, “Oh my god”, you know, “What’s, what’s wrong with this dog?” And I told
her, I said, “Look, you gotta get her to the vet, make sure that she’s, she’s healthy
if we’re gonna keep her.”
JULIE LEORY: The vet can’t give us a prognosis
for her Short Spine Syndrome. And the oldest one that we’ve identified just recently
passed away at age 14.
COMM: As well as Short Spine Syndrome, Cuda
also has a rather distinctive smile.
JULIE LEROY: Her top teeth are just exaggerated.
Those, those fangs are just really exaggerated.
JULIE LEROY: She is a dog with Short Spine
Syndrome. Only seventeen of them in the world that we know about.
Lady: Wow! Julie Leroy: So she’s really special, yup!
People will run from across the street to come up and pet her and meet her.
COMM: it’s not just in person that Cuda
gets such a reaction. Julie started a Facebook page for her in 2010.
JULIE LEROY: I wanted to share her and I wanted
to find others like her. We thought she was the only dog like this in the world. Some
time after we did that, a photo of another dog started circulating. It took about six
months, but I located that dog in Italy. Since I got in touch with the other dog’s owner,
I keep looking for research and I’ve tried to learn everything I can about it.
COMM: Cuda sometimes works as a therapy dog.
And Julie has even written a book about her to inspire children.
JULIE LEROY: A book about diversity, about
self-acceptance and accepting oneself, it’s for kids who have to learn how to cope with
special people if they’re special so that they love each other and love themselves.
And all the characters are either my dogs or my friends’ dogs.
JULIE LEROY: What I hope for anybody else
who comes across a dog with Short Spine Syndrome is the memory that they’ve see one of these
dogs before and they don’t take it to a vet to euthanise them.
JULIE LEROY: What I hope for her is a long
healthy happy life. It changed everything, that moment changed everything. She brought
us tons of friends and gave us a purpose.