A couple that adopted a “female” puppy from a shelter later learned their canine was a genetic rarity.
TikTok user @mothmother told Newsweek via TikTok that the shelter assured the couple that the pup they were adopting was female, even though to them Ziggy seemed to have male genitalia.
“We assumed we must be mistaken,” she said. “When puppies are tiny, their sex isn’t quite as obvious.”
After welcoming home Beatrice, the name the couple originally gave their dog, Emily started posting the pup on her Instagram account. That’s when a dachshund breeder messaged her and said she could tell Beatrice was male. That led the couple to rename the dog Walter, before a vet visit had them change the name again.
“I took Walter to the vet for their puppy checkup,” Emily said. “The vet tech looked nervous after checking Walter over. They lowered their voice and anxiously informed me that Walter was intersex.”
Intersexuality is a rare congenital disorder in domestic animals and has been reported in several species, including goats, horses, cats and dogs, an article in the journal Animal Reproduction Science says. Intersex refers to an individual having parts of, or all, genital organs from both sexes.
“I was surprised but fascinated by this news, and we changed our puppy’s name to Ziggy, after David Bowie,” she said.
@mothmother/TikTok
Emily said the vet tech was anxious about sharing the news because some people don’t want to keep the dog after finding out it is intersex. She’s not sure the reason why, but her guess is transphobia.
While it is possible to be both intersex and transgender, the two terms are different and not interchangeable. Intersex pertains to the physiological designation, while transgender is how a person expresses their gender identity.
“It could also just be that people don’t want a dog with a ‘flaw,'” Emily added.
In a separate video, Emily shared the phone call she received from the vet’s office that revealed what was found during Ziggy’s neutering appointment. The vet discovered testicles where the ovaries should have been, and Ziggy had both testicles and a uterus.
The vet also pointed out Ziggy had “an ambiguous external part.”
The back-and-forth since getting Ziggy didn’t make Emily and her husband love the dog any less. Ziggy is part of the family, and she wrote in the comments section that “they are very good pup.”
The TikTok video hadd amassed over 734,600 views, 84,000 likes and 490 comments as of Wednesday.
“Ziggy is definitely the goodest they!” commented one viewer, while a second said: “Thanks for introducing me to your fur theyby.”
Someone else chimed in: “We love a supportive dog mom.”
Another added: “Just wanna say I’m so glad Ziggy ended up with you vs someone else who may not have been understanding.”
Emily said it might sound “absurd” that people would not be understanding with intersex dogs, but she pointed out that the comments she sometimes receives reveal the “sentiment isn’t terribly uncommon.” That is part of the reason why the vet tech felt uneasy sharing the news about Ziggy.
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