Julia Kellum from Yorktown’s Village Dog Resource describes 9-month-old Tanner as a brown-and-white mystery mutt.
In the couple of months they’ve been fostering him, he’s come out of his shell and become a fun-loving little guy.
But he’s got another attribute that’s hard to miss.
"Basically his manhood doesn't have enough (skin) to cover it, and it's a little larger than normal. So those two things combined, he just kind of hangs out all the time," she said.
Tanner’s problem might evoke a laugh at first, but Kellum says it actually makes finding him a home really difficult.
"We need him to be adoptable, and that's just not what most people are willing to or want to accept for their lifelong dog to have that hanging around," she said.
And there are also medical concerns. Kellum says Tanner’s skin can dry out, which would require an owner to moisturize it. That makes adoption an even harder sell.
Village Dog Resource is looking to raise $4,000 so Tanner can have a third surgery to try to cover him up.
His first two didn’t do the job.
Raising thousands of dollars for just one dog is a huge ask, but Kellum’s been wowed by the response. In the last week, they’ve raised almost enough to cover the operation, largely due to a tounge-in-cheek Facebook post replete with eggplant emojis.
"Tanner deserves a normal life where the girls aren’t scared and the boys aren’t jealous," it says.
