The only thing more heartwarming than an interspecies friendship between a Chihuahua that can’t walk and a pigeon that can’t fly is if the Chihuahua in question happened to own a very tiny wheelchair.
Earlier this month, The Mia Foundation, a nonprofit shelter for special needs animals in Rochester, New York, took to Facebook to share photos of Lundy, a two-month-old Chihuahua without mobility in his back legs, snuggling up with a flightless pigeon named Herman.
"I took Herman out of his playpen to give him some time out and I put him in a dog bed and then I had to tend to Lundy so I put Lundy in with him,” Sue Rogers, who runs the foundation with her husband, Gary, told WHEC. “They just looked really cute together, so I took some pictures and posted them to Facebook and the next morning it was crazy.”
After the post went viral, The Mia Foundation received more than $6000 in monetary donations—and a surprise gift for Lundy. New Hampshire-based pet mobility company Walkin’ Pets provided him with a Mini Walkin’ Wheels wheelchair, a two-wheeled harness meant for disabled animals that weigh between two and 10 pounds. According to a press release from Walkin’ Pets, the shelter had been worried that two-pound Lundy, who could probably fit in the palm of your hand, wouldn’t get the chance to run around with the help of a wheelchair until he grew quite a bit bigger.
Newly mobile and even cuter than before, Lundy is now waiting for a kind family to adopt him. Finding a forever home might take him away from his fine feathered friend, but Lundy and Herman’s bond won’t ever be forgotten: There’s now a book called Lundy and Herman that tells their story. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Mia Foundation, and you can order it for $20 here.