Quasimodo the dog has not had an easy life.
Born with deformed legs, he had to crawl on his elbows to get around. His owner decided he was too much trouble to keep, and he was dumped out of a pickup truck onto the side of a New Jersey road in August.
But Lianne Hughes saw something special in him. She met the pup while working at an animal shelter and fell in love while fostering him. Hughes named him Quasimodo after "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" character -- deformed but with a big heart.
"He's big, he's silly, he doesn't know he's any different," she said. "He's just got a heart of gold."
"I saw him and I just knew I had to help him," she said.
Hughes started fundraisers to help pay for Quasi's medical bills, and the response was incredible: $5,000 was donated for the special surgery needed to fix his legs.
"Even people that don't meet him want to help him immediately, just seeing his pictures, his story," said Hughes.
Local
Suddenly, the bowlegged dog no one wanted was hopping on a private plane for his surgery, thanks to the Pittsburgh Aviation Animal Rescue Team. After the procedure in May, volunteers from the rescue team carried Quasi out, and he was reunited with Lianne and his new family.
Like every dog, Quasi wants to jump and run outside, but he needs more time to recover. He's wearing casts and booties for the next five weeks, and then he'll able to put all his energy to good use.
But for now, Quasi won't ever have to worry about being abandoned again.
"You can't not love him," said Hughes.
