A local pigeon who can’t fly and a pup who can’t walk took the internet by storm and touched the hearts of millions. Lundy, a 13-week-old Chihuahua pup, came to Sue Rogers of Hilton when he was only four weeks old, barely weighing six ounces. He was born in South Carolina with a spinal defect, which makes him unable to walk. Sue is the founder of the Mia Foundation, a rescue organization for animals that are born with congenital disabilities and special needs such as cleft palates, deformities, and missing limbs. The organization helps rescue the animals from a death sentence by rehabilitating them, caring for them, and giving them much needed love and affection and a chance for life. During the two months that Sue had Lundy, she provided him rehabilitative therapy and lots of love and attention.
Herman is a pigeon that Sue rescued one-and-a-half years ago when someone contacted the Mia Foundation about an injured pigeon that was lying in the parking lot of a car dealer for several days. Herman came to Sue in a life-threatening condition. She tube-fed Herman and helped him regain his strength. He is unable to fly due to neurological issues from either a virus or a brain injury that occurred, leaving him near death. After Herman was stronger, Sue contacted bird sanctuaries to see if she could find him a forever home. Since Herman could not fly, no one would take him. Sue did not want him euthanized, so she made Herman part of her forever rescue animal family. Herman is a happy pigeon living with the Rogers. Every day he gets love and attention and gets moved to various places, so his life is enriched with a variety of sights and sounds.
One day last month, Sue momentarily set Herman down next to Lundy to free up her hands. What she saw was heartwarming. Herman, the pigeon, began to nuzzle and cuddle little Lundy, the Chihuahua. “When I saw how Herman was cuddling Lundy, I took a few pictures with my phone and posted them on our Mia Foundation Facebook page. The next morning, I woke up, and the picture had gone viral, and I had over 100 messages,” Sue said. Lundy and Herman’s picture received over 9 million views from every corner of the world. It also led to many high-profile interviews from Good Morning America, People Magazine, and even The Dodo.
This unusual bond between a pigeon and pup has even led to a children’s book, which will be released soon. The book Lundy and Herman came to fruition after talk show host Kelly Rippa saw the viral pictures of them. Since the pictures were posted on Facebook in mid-February, thousands of people have asked to adopt little Lundy. “Choosing from thousands of people would be an impossible decision. It would be so hard to choose one person out of all the people who want to adopt him. So, I decided to keep him as an addition to my forever ten program,” (making it now a forever 11).
Sue and her husband began the Mia Foundation after her own Chihuahua pup was born with a cleft palate. The Rogers were faced with an unexpected decision of whether to euthanize their newborn pup due to her disabilities. They chose to keep her, leading to a 22-month journey of learning to care for their special needs pup. Mia got her very own Facebook page, which led to thousands of followers who closely watched Mia’s life unfold. After Mia passed away, Sue was overwhelmed by the moving messages she received from complete strangers who were inspired by Mia’s life. “I had no idea how many lives Mia impacted,” Sue said. Sue received messages from teens who were considering taking their own life who were impacted by Mia and motivated to fight through their depression. She was also contacted by a family whose husband was facing a terminal cancer diagnosis, and Mia’s fight to live inspired him to seek alternative treatments, ultimately saving his life and winning his battle against cancer. These stories inspired the couple to allow Mia’s imprint on this world to continue impacting others positively, leading to the creation of the Mia Foundation.
In addition to saving animals, Sue also brings her mission of love and acceptance into local schools. Sue and her “forever ten team” of special needs pets go into classrooms to help teach children a more compassionate view of those who are different. Differences and congenital disabilities in peers can often lead to bullying. “I bring in a Chihuahua with no front legs, and he hops around like a kangaroo versus walking like a normal dog, and the kids love him. But if they saw a child who couldn’t walk normally, they might be inclined to bully him for his differences,” said Sue. Seeing these animals with congenital disabilities helps children rethink how they treat people who might be different, and they develop compassion with the help of the Mia Foundation animals.
As for Lundy and Herman, they continue to grow their bond and journey of love and acceptance between a puppy and pigeon while living in the Rogers’ home in Hilton. Recently, the Hilton High School Robotics team built Lundy a special wheelchair to help her walk, and it even includes a seat for Herman to ride along. For more information on the Mia foundation or to follow this pup and pigeon’s story, find them on Facebook (The Mia Foundation).
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