When you get a dog, it’s important to do your research and know you’re getting them from an ethical place. There are many “backyard breeders” who unethically try to “design” dogs in ways that leave them with life-threatening abnormalities.

That was the case for one poor “gremlin” dog, who was left with a number of physical deformities and health problems and was almost put down — but one animal rescue is giving her a fighting chance.

In July, Lucky Tales Rescue, which serves the areas of northern Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio, took in a 7-month-old French bulldog named Myskia.

They wrote that Myskia’s breeder wanted to breed her to have a “gremlin look,” and intended to sell her puppies, kill her and throw her in the trash.

“People like a certain look on a dog, and they’ll do anything they can breeding wise to make that look,” rescue president Laura Morgan told 12 News.

“They want to shorten their stance and have them like bow legged to look kind of like the gremlin look. That’s what they’re doing with a lot of exotic bullies,” explained veterinary technician Jenn Rimar.

Myskia was likely inbred, a not-uncommon practice with unethical backyard breeders trying to get a desired look, but the inbreeding went “too far” and left Myskia with severe medical issues and physical deformities that threatened her life. While the breeder wanted to have the dog killed, someone talked him out of it, took the dog themselves and surrendered her to the rescue.

The shelter wrote that she was a “medical nightmare,” with a congenital deformity of her limbs, Brachycephalic Airway Syndrome, aspirational pneumonia, and suspected Congenital Muscular Dystrophy. A deformity of her airway left her barely able to breathe, and she was reportedly fighting for her life in an oxygen tank.

The animal hospital suggested the dog be euthanized, but Lucky Tails wanted to do everything possible to save her life. The dog, now named “Gremlin,” has a collapsing trachea that can’t be fixed, but she underwent surgery to make it easier for her to breathe.

“They had to widen her nostrils so she could breathe easier out of her nose,” Rimar told 12 News. “She had an actual inflammatory polyp that had grown from all of the inflammation from her trying to breathe. It was covering 40% of her airway, so they had to cut that out and then she spent two weeks on oxygen there in their ICU unit.”

Despite the challenges — and a reported $10,000 in medical bills — the shelter continued to fight for Gremlin’s life, and despite all the odds, the pup is now thriving in foster care with Jenn Rimar.

“Even though she won’t have a normal life, she’s having a comfortable happy life and that’s what matters,” Laura Morgan said. “She just had like little glimmers of hope, where it was like, ‘Oh she ate today, that’s a good thing,’ or, ‘She played today, she’s happy.’”

While things worked out for Gremlin, she’s not alone — there are many dogs suffering from major health issues as a result of unethical breeding. The shelter says that if you do choose to buy from a breeder, make sure they are reputable and care about their animals’ health.

Poor Gremlin was born with severe medical issues as a result of inbreeding and unethical breeding practices, but we’re glad that despite the odds she’s now doing well.

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