Meet Meatball (Meaty for short), a pit bull mix who is now living his best life with his beloved family in California. He even becomes a famous star on Instagram with nearly 160k followers.
However, his life wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Before having a forever loving home and all that internet fame, Meaty had to spend his days in a shelter in Central Valley.
Thankfully, a kind-hearted woman named Lisa Reilly rescued him and gave him a second chance in life.
She said that she first spotted him in a photo posted on Facebook by Fresno Bully Rescue, a no-kill shelter in California.
“Well, he looks like a bowling ball,” Reilly said. “It’s hard to really tell just how short he is in person, but he’s so low to the ground and wide like a Mack Truck. And he would just barrel into you like a bowling ball of dog fat when we first got him. Thus, he became known as ‘The Meatball,’ Meaty for short.”
Meaty melt Lisa’s heart and reminded her of her old dog, Kitty, who had passed away due to serious illness. For this reason, she decided to take him home and gave him the love and care he desperately needed.
“Fresno Bully Rescue did a great job nursing Meaty from the first time I saw him until I was able to bring him home,” Reilly told The Dodo.
And since the day he was rescued from the shelter, he hasn’t stopped smiling. He quickly bonded with her other rescued pit bulls, Punky and Ricardo Tubbs, as well as dachshunds Bitty and Dappe.
“One benefit to having a fat dog is that he’s extremely treat motivated,” Reilly explains. “He’s also extremely toy motivated and loves to play. So he’s willing to ‘work’ for any toy or treat, which makes taking pictures of him so easy.”
As you can see from the photos below, Meaty is so happy, and the wide grin on his face is all natural!
“He’s truly a mama’s boy, though, and just wants to be next to me all the time,” Reilly said. “It’s great to have though, as you really can’t have a bad day when he’s around. I’d dare anyone not to smile being near him.”
If you love Meaty and his friends, you can follow their Instagram to update their daily life and their adventures.
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More info: Instagram (h/t: thedodo, mymodernmet)