Meet Beaux Tox, a Labrador Retriever who was born with a facial deformity and lived a life of rejection and mistreatment until he met Jamie Hulit.
Beaux was born with his distinctive features as a result of being squished as one of six puppies in his mother’s womb.
Jamie told The Dodo, “He just kind of got pushed out of the way, and formed how he formed.”
For Beaux, whose brains and bubbly demeanor were unaffected by the deformity, this was just the beginning of a life of being pushed around.
“Because of his facial deformity, the people who were breeding couldn’t sell him,” Jamie explained. “So they gave him away for free.”
Beaux lived with a guy who abused him and abandoned him for five years outside.
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Beaux had been neglected to the point that local rescue groups attempted, but failed, to intervene, and all that was left of him was a sad, disease- and parasite-ridden sack of bones with little hope.
Then his guardian angel showed up. Jamie was unfazed by Beaux’s plight and was ready to give him another shot.
“I didn’t care how badly he might be ill,” she said. “I just didn’t want him to go into the foster system again and be returned.”
“I wanted him to have stability and a place he knew was his home. That is why I adopted him outright from the owner. Beaux Tox had already bounced around and I just wanted him to be a dog.”
Jamie could relate to Beaux since she had been in foster care as a youngster and was familiar with the sentiments of false hope and rejection that come with being handed from family to family.
Dr. Jay Rydberg, a committed and courageous vet who put as much time and energy in getting Beaux back on his feet as Jamie did, provided intense therapy to Beaux.
They worked together to help the sick dog overcome a persistent case of heartworms that had almost killed him. Beaux was finally given the all-clear, and Jamie was free to take him home with her.
He’s now a part of a loving family, and Riley, another Retriever, considers him a little brother. They’ve formed an unbreakable friendship and have become best friends.
“Riley and Beaux absolutely love each other.”
“They’re perfect for each other even with the age difference (Beaux is 6 and Riley 13) and even though Beaux acts like a puppy — it helps Riley stay young.”
So it all works out in the end. Despite his difficult background, Beaux Tox exudes the enthusiasm and innocence of a young puppy and is ecstatic to be with his new family.
“He’s so full of life and he’s just brought so much to us.”
