This precious unicorn puppy was born with an extra tail on the forehead – earning him the name Narwhal.
Narwhal, who is fit and well, is so cute he has now become the face of the rescue centre that took him in.
The adorable pooch, named after a species of horned whale, came to the shelter for special needs pups called Mac’s Mission, in 2019.
Dog-lover Rochelle Steffen, 44, who founded the centre in Jackson, Missouri, USA, said: “From what the vet could tell, he absorbed a twin in utero, which is where the extra tail came from.
“We are fortunate that it is just the tail and that it does not wag. It does not have any bones or nerves.
“The tail is just there and does not pose any threat to him, so we don’t want to put him through surgery trying to remove it.
“It is what makes him extra special and cute.”
Rochelle started Mac’s Mission after she met a medically-challenged pit bull, named Mac, while she was volunteering at her local dog shelter.
“Mac was rescued in April 2011, his litter was being sold and he was super sick weighing only four pounds at three-months-old, so I took him,” Rochelle said.
“I had been volunteering for the local shelter for 20 years and, as more sick dogs came in, I began fostering more and more sick dogs and eventually that turned into the non-profit.
“I became an all breed special needs shelter. I like the most broken dogs because they need the most help.
“Mac will be 10 on January 15th, he battled a million different medical issues and he is the reason for all of this, which in turn brought us Narwhal.”
Rochelle fell so deeply in love with Narwhal and his horn, that he joined Mac in being the face of her shelter.
So far Mac’s Mission has saved over 1,000 dogs, helping to bring them back to good health and then finding them loving homes.
Rochelle added: “People believe they’re too expensive, they take too much time, or they’re just too sick.
“I want people to see that special needs dogs deserve love too and they really do have the potential to live long fulfilling lives.”
