Strawberry, a 2-year-old pit bull with the nickname “unicorn dog,” has finally found a loving home in South Pasadena after moving from one shelter to another and being nearly euthanized, partly because of a bump on the head.
The dog appeared to have endured tough times when she was rescued by the La Belle Foundation in Los Angeles.
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“This young dog has been through the wringer and back,” said the rescue organization in a social media post. “She has horrible scratches on her swollen face and goopy eyes, not to mention two giant lumps in her sweet head.”
Shelters previously had thought the lump on the head was a tumor and wanted to put her down. But tests showed that it was scar tissue from an old injury and not life-threatening.
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When Strawberry was all healed and ready for adoption, the Kuhlman family in South Pasadena saw her online and “couldn’t resist.”
“Something spoke to me about her,” said Kristen Kuhlman, the matriarch of the family. “She wasn’t able to find a home for quite a while. We waited and thought about it. And we kept seeing her on the website.”
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The family, who was just bouncing back from the sadness of losing a dog of 15 years, decided to bring Strawberry home and shower her with love and affection.
“She’s a good snuggler,” said Claire Kuhlman, the twin daughter of Kristen’s, while laughing. “She’ll lay on top of you. She’s heavy and big.”
It’s unimaginable that the gentle and sweet dog was almost euthanized, the Kuhlmans said.
“We wondered a lot about how the bump got there,” Jack Kuhlman, the twin son of the family, said. “I think that’s another reason why it took her so long to get adopted.”
The pup came with the name “Strawberry,” and the family decided to keep it because it felt like a good “fit.”
“It’s cute. It is a lot of syllables, so we sometimes call her ‘Strawbs,’” explained Jeff Kuhlman, the patriarch. “We found a leash that had strawberries. It all seemed to work.”
The kids said the first things they do after coming home from school are playing fetch with Strawberry and snuggling with their new dog.
Strawberry the unicorn dog also has some fans in the neighborhood as the pup is quite recognizable with her unique bump on the head, according to the family.
“People would roll down the windows and say, ‘Hey strawberry,’” Kristen Kuhlman explained. “She’s very loved by many people.”
