Mac's Mission in Jackson rescues two-tailed 'unicorn' puppy

Ten-week-old golden retriever Narwhal the Little Magical Furry Unicorn has no idea he has become an internet sensation after being rescued by Mac’s Mission in Jackson — and he doesn’t seem bothered by the extra tail between his eyes, either.

Rochelle Steffen, founder of Mac’s Mission, said her volunteers picked up Narwhal and his “dad” — a 2-year-old wiener dog — after the organization was tagged in a social media post Saturday near Kansas City, Missouri. They were abandoned and left to wander in the cold, she said.

The dogs were checked in at Mac’s Mission after retrieval, Steffen said, and a weekend employee notified her by phone the tail doesn’t wag, “it just hangs there.”

“You can’t help but giggle when you see him,” Steffen said standing between Narwhal and several other small dogs in one of three “pods” on the property. “He’s just so perfect.”

Dr. Brian Heuring at Cape Small Animal Clinic in Cape Girardeau examined Narwhal and found no danger in him retaining his “tail,” she said.

Steffen said the tail contains a small amount of cartilage that never formed. It might grow, she said, but not to the size of his rear tail.

“There’s literally nothing there that would cause it to be removed,” she said.

Steffen has never seen anything like it, she said, except for a dog she rescued several years ago, Bumble, who had an extra leg protruding from his rear.

Steffen said she’s received multiple phone calls since Mac’s Mission posted a photo of Narwahl on its Facebook page.

Everybody in the rescue community knows Steffen is the “go-to” for the “strange and unusual” animals, she said, adding she currently houses 10 dogs with special needs.

“We’ve had a small handful of people throw a fit about the fact that we won’t remove [the extra tail],” Steffen said. “He was made this way and it’s not affecting his health. It makes him pretty stinkin’ adorably cute, so why would we take that away from him?”

With already a couple dozen requests to adopt Narwhal, Steffen said she’s going to hold off for a while and “let him be a puppy.”

Mac’s Mission is a not-for-profit, grassroots special-needs dog rescue and is 100% funded by donations.

Get your weekend plans delivered to your inbox. Sign up for the Expedition: Weekend email newsletter. Go to www.semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.