Dominic Smithers
A dog who was abandoned by his owner because he thought he was gay has been adopted by a gay couple.
Fezco was recently dumped at the Stanly County Animal Protective Services, a shelter in Albemarle, North Carolina, after his owner saw him humping another male dog.
According to staff at the shelter, the owner said he didn't want a 'gay' dog and left him in their care.
Sharing the tragic story to their Facebook page, they said Fezco gets along well with both people and other animals, and would no doubt make a lovely pet.
And fortunately for the little guy, it didn't take long for someone to come forward and welcome him into their family.
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Announcing the fantastic news in an update, the shelter said: "We would like to give a special thank you to Greater Charlotte SPCA for taking Fezco into their rescue!
"Thankfully, they had a previous adopter step up, and Fezco has been ADOPTED!!! Thank you GCSPCA for making this possible!"
Steve Nichols and his partner John, who have been together for over 30 years, came to the rescue after they heard about Fezco's story, and said they understood what it was like to experience such discrimination.
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Steve told WCCB: "It’s just such a silly reason to turn in a dog.
"We just thought it would make sense for the gay dog to be adopted by a loving gay family."
John added: "We’ve been subject to that kind of bigotry and ignorance throughout our lives together, and we couldn’t always do anything about it. We looked at each other and said, we can do something about this."
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Speaking to TMZ about the adoption, the Steve and John said they had decided to change Fezco's name to Oscar, after Oscar Wilde, the late gay Irish poet.
Oh, and just in case you are wondering whether your dog humping his pal in the local park is any sort of indication of sexual orientation, it's not.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals stresses that 'mounting, thrusting (humping) and masturbation are normal behaviours exhibited by most dogs', whether it be in relation to other animals, people, or objects.
Addressing the issue, Dr William Pressly of Pressly Animal Hospital said: "All dogs do it. It’s a dominance thing and a play thing."
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And Dr Pressly urged people to be more careful and considerate when they decide to get a pet of any kind.
He said: "You just don’t throw ’em away. When you get an animal, he’s there for the lifetime."
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