ROCHESTER, NY — Last week, Sue Rogers sparked a friendship that warmed the hearts of millions. Lundy, a Chihuahua who can’t walk, and Herman, a pigeon who can’t fly, became unlikely buddies at the Mia Foundation, a rehabilitation center for animals with birth defects.
Rogers, the founder of the Mia Foundation in Rochester, New York, cares full time for 10 animals with birth defects, with 20 more animals living with fosters.
On Thursday evening, Rogers had Herman in a small dog bed. She put Lundy on the bed with him and watched closely — because while tiny Lundy “loves everybody and everything,” Herman is a wild pigeon, and she wanted to keep them safe. What happened next became the subject of international attention.
They got along wonderfully.
“I was very surprised to see that Herman was really curious about this little thing [Lundy]. He put his head a little closer to him. It was just really cute,” Rogers told Patch.
See the video below.
She posted a few pictures and a video on the Mia Foundation’s Facebook page, and the internet did what it does best — the original post reached over 7 million people. She’s also had media requests from every continent except Antarctica.
Attention isn’t all that the foundation got. Rogers said it has raked in over $6,000 in donations since Friday morning. Surgeries for her needy animals can cost up to $8,000.
About a year ago, Rogers said, Herman the pigeon was found in a parking lot and had been “just sitting there for three days. It was pretty close to death.” She had to tube-feed him.
“He came around but never regained his ability to fly,” she said, adding that he likely will never fly again. For that reason, sanctuaries said they would just put him to sleep — which Rogers simply wouldn’t accept.
“I got attached to the little dude. I take him out every day.”
Then, in mid-January, Lundy the Chihuahua came to the foundation from South Carolina. “He wasn’t using his back legs like he should,” Rogers said.
Nobody knows exactly why Lundy can’t walk, and his tiny size is partially the reason for not knowing. At just under 1 pound, Lundy is too small for an MRI. Rogers is working to get him big enough for more testing.
Rogers is sure to put the dynamic duo together every day, always supervised.
The Mia Foundation is much more than a rehabilitation center for animals with birth defects. Rogers brings animals to local schools, using them to show the kids that being born different is no reason for bullying.
One little dog, McFly, was born without front legs. He has little “chicken wings” instead, Rogers said, which the students find adorable.
Rogers also shows the kids MacKenzie, a Chihuahua with a cleft palate, to emphasize that not all defects are visible. Even though she was born with a defect, MacKenzie warms the hearts of the kids, Rogers said.