Pablo and Picasso are brothers who were born to a backyard breeder. Pablo and all the other puppies in the litter were sold off to different families, but no one wanted Picasso — because of the way his face looked.
Picasso was born with a very noticeable facial abnormality. His upper jaw twists sharply to the right, making his nose point off to the side as well. Because of the misalignment of his jaw, some of his teeth are gouging into the roof of his mouth, and it takes him a little more effort to eat than most dogs. Otherwise, though, he's completely healthy.
Since the breeder was unable to sell Picasso, she surrendered him to the Porterville Animal Shelter in California, where he was quickly put on the euthanasia list. His brother Pablo ended up at the same shelter not long after, when the family who bought him decided they didn't want him anymore. He was put on the euthanasia list as well.
Luvable Dog Rescue, a rescue based in Oregon, often transports and takes in dogs from the Porterville Animal Shelter, and staffers were scheduled to receive a bunch of rescue dogs when they found out about the two brothers.
"I was talking to volunteer Shannon Corbit about the dogs we were receiving and just happened to ask her out of the blue if she had any unusual-looking or special needs dogs," Liesl Wilhardt, executive director of Luvable Dog Rescue, told The Dodo. "She responded, 'Well, as a matter of fact, I do!' and she sent me Picasso's shelter intake photo. He was curled in a dog bed, and looked very sad. His twisted face was startling, but he had soft and gentle eyes, and for me it was love at first sight!"
As soon as Wilhardt learned that Picasso was on the euthanasia list, she immediately agreed to take him in. It wasn't until a later conversation that she learned Picasso's brother, Pablo, was also at the shelter, waiting to be put down.
"I could not imagine leaving the brother behind to die, so I checked with Ashley, our Luvable manager, to be sure we had the space for both, and then told Shannon to pull them off the euthanasia list – Luvable would take both boys," Wilhardt said.
When the brothers finally arrived into the rescue's care, no one understood how anyone could ever give them up. Both boys are incredibly sweet and gentle, and on top of loving every person they meet, they also have an intense love for each other.
"Picasso and Pablo seem to be the best of friends and are really upset when separated from each other," Wilhardt said. "After watching them together for a couple of weeks now at Luvable, we think it's in their best interest to be adopted to a home together."
Funnily enough, Picasso is the much more outgoing brother, while Pablo is a little on the shyer side. The two thrive off of each other, though, and are their best selves whenever they are together.
Pablo still needs to undergo surgery to remove the teeth pushing into the roof of his mouth, and once he's recovered from that, the boys will be ready to start meeting potential families. The rescue has already received multiple adoption requests for the pair, but are going to take their time choosing the best possible match.
"There is absolutely no reason to explain why they were unwanted and taken to a shelter, except for the fact that they were born in an area with a lot of unwanted dogs due to a lack of spay and neuter to control the dog population," Wilhardt said. "We love them. I wish we could keep them but they really are awesome dogs and deserve a home and family of their own."
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