Alyssa DeLuca and Zachary Chin woke up one morning expecting a calm, ordinary day. Then DeLuca came across a Facebook post from Trenton Animals Rock that changed everything.
“The post described a chow chow/Shar-Pei mix that was terrified in their shelter and would shiver in the corner of his kennel all day,” DeLuca told The Dodo. “I immediately noticed the dog’s big smile in the picture they provided and how similar he looked to my boyfriend Zack’s dog, Arthur. I showed the post to Zack, and he couldn’t believe the similarities either. After reading the description, Zack looked at me and said something along the lines of, ‘Well, you know what we have to do now — we have to save him.’”
The couple initially had no plans of getting a second dog, but as soon as they read about Wes and saw how much he looked like Arthur, they knew it was meant to be.
“Within the hour, we were in contact with Trenton Animal Rocks and submitted a form to foster — and eventually adopt — Wes, and they were swift in their response, asking us how soon we could get to the shelter to meet him,” DeLuca said. “They described him as a super sweet dog, but terrified in the shelter and needed to get out of there ASAP. Three hours later, we were meeting Wes. Our hearts broke when we met him. We waited for him in the outdoor ‘meeting’ area and heard the shelter team try to calm him down as he was still shivering in his kennel … We knew Wes couldn’t stay in the shelter and be scared any longer, so we brought him home with us after the meeting.”
When Wes first arrived in his new home, he was definitely nervous, but once he realized he could trust his new family, his vibrant personality came bursting through. He and Arthur soon became best friends, and it really did seem like the pair were meant to be together. Their personalities were definitely different, but they complement each other so well.
“We would always say that they were the ‘same dog in a different font’ because of how similar they looked, and even though they had a lot of differences, their mannerisms were also very similar,” DeLuca said.
Since Wes was supposed to be a chow chow/Shar-Pei mix, his parents decided to get an Embark DNA test kit to find out what kind of dog he actually was. They ended up getting one for Arthur, too, for health-related reasons. They weren’t expecting to learn anything shocking — and were absolutely floored when they got the results.
Wes and Arthur looked and acted similarly for a reason. They were brothers.
DeLuca and Chin couldn’t believe it, and it was definitely the cherry on top of Wes’ happy ending.
“We were absolutely shocked when we found out they were brothers, but, at the same time, it explained so much,” DeLuca said. “It feels great knowing that not only did we rescue Wes and give him the life that he’s always deserved, but that he was also united with his brother, who he’s become so close with and gets to live a peaceful life with his best friend/brother by his side.”
