Old, abandoned, partially blind and deaf dog that no one wanted to adopt finds new forever family

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - “Kane” and two other dogs with him were abandoned by a family and some rescue groups stepped in to save them from being put down. But there was a little problem finding Kane a forever home. He is 17 to 18 years old and has several health issues including being deaf, blind in one eye and partially blind in the other.

He’s a large dog, which are harder to adopt than smaller dogs. Rescues say many people don’t want to adopt large older dogs because of the potential for costly medical bills. But one valley couple looked over Kane’s age and health issues and adopted him anyway after seeing him featured in a FOX5 story.

“His picture just talked to me. He looks a little bit like our dog. With his eye, cloudy eye, he looked a little bit sad. It really tugged at my heart like of course a lot of people. So I rushed out of the bedroom and I’m like, look, Phil, he needs help,” said Ewa Halverson.

Halverson’s husband Phil didn’t need a lot of convincing to welcome Kane to the home.

“These old dogs, for them to die in a kennel in a cement cage, it just breaks your heart. Just doesn’t make any sense,” he said.

Not only does Kane have a new forever pillow to rest on, but he also has a forever friend. The couple has a dog named Mango that’s around 14 years old. The two dogs seem to be getting along just fine so far.

Rescue groups tell FOX5 several groups came together that led to Kane’s new home. One woman fostered him for months and people donated to a GoFundme account to help pay for his ongoing medical care. Rescues say they need more people to adopt larger and older dogs. And say they would appreciate people becoming foster families because it gives rescues time to find permanent homes for dogs so they are not euthanized.

While the couple just welcomed Kane into their home this week, they feel he’s already bonded to them. Ewa Halverson says Phil left for a short time for the grocery store Tuesday. And says when he returned home Kane licked his face.

“We’ve been adopted,” she said.

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