Teen got a tattoo to match a mark left by his rescue dog’s ‘cruel’ past owners — but its real meaning left everyone in stitches
A teenager was upset when he found a strange tattoo on his rescue dog. He assumed the questionable act was done by the previous owner and decided to get a matching tattoo to show solidarity with his dog, Bear. Chris Mendiola from Texas headed to a tattoo parlor to get the same mark inked on his pup’s underbelly. It was not until he clicked a picture of the seemingly heartwarming gesture that people pointed out what the sign really meant. Mendiola’s hilarious mix-up was regarded as one of the best bad tattoo stories as it went viral on social media.
Mendiola adopted Bear after the dog “bounced” from several homes, one after another, in 2010. It did not take him long to notice the off-seeming mark on the dog’s underbelly and feel awful about it, believing it was done by his "cruel" past owners. “I just thought, wow, that kind of sucks," the dog owner told Buzzfeed News. He did not believe in modifying dogs and wanted to show his support for the pup. Soon after getting a matching tattoo, the owner posted a side-by-side collage of his new tattoo and that of Bear’s on Facebook in 2017. The caption read, “For those of you who know Bear, know that he has a tattoo given to him by some previous owners. It sickens me to know that people actually tattoo their pets. So tonight, I got his tattoo.”
While his good intentions shone through, people could not help but break the news to him. The mark on Bear was a standard symbol indicating that the dog was neutered or spayed. It is done to prevent the pet from undergoing the procedure repeatedly. Mendiola went viral across social media sites for his tattoo disaster, with one of his schoolmates posting a screenshot of his post on Reddit (u/whoople). “Guy from high school got the same tattoo as his dog,” they mocked. The comments joked about the dog owner’s naive act. “I would have thought to look it up or ask about it before tattooing the symbol for neutered on myself,” wrote u/Squalor-. “He had good intentions, and it's a funny story. If you have a sense of humor, this is no big deal,” marked u/YoureallySeeEurydice.
However, comments under Mendiola's post were not that kind. “Are you neutered too?” wrote one viewer, while another joked, “Don’t let mom see!” as seen in the screenshots shared by Imgur. Nevertheless, Mendiola remained unabashed and rather took pride in his courageous act of love. He later told the outlet that he had no regrets since he already knew what it meant when he got inked. "We talked to our vet about the tattoo. I knew what it meant," the owner disclosed. Mendiola said the critics and haters can mock him, but the sweet motive behind the tattoo is enough for him. “The tattoo is not for them, it’s for me." He believes it would make an extraordinary memory of his dog and challenged other pet owners whether they would have the guts to do something similar.