This ‘Gremlin´ pup has 43,000 followers

By Leo Black via SWNS

This dog has a facial injury that makes her look just like - Mogwai from the movie "Gremlins."

When she was a stray in Iran, Mugsy was the victim of an acid attack, which burnt half her face and exposed her teeth.

Phoenix Novalee, 32, and her friend Sam Taylor, 33, were looking for a rescue pet to adopt when they spotted Mugsy on Persian Paws.

Persian Paws is a rescue service that relocates pets from the Middle East and helps them get veterinary care.

The pair fell in love with Mugsy straight away and brought her home to Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, in 2018.

Phoenix, a shop manager, said: "Sam showed me a website of people looking for help with dogs in the Middle East.

"She had been burnt with acid so put we put a video on GoFundMe to get her better care."

The roommates' crowdfunding campaign raised $10,000 CAD, which they used to pay for Mugsy's medical bills.

Phoenix said: "She already had surgery to fix her wounds and remove the damaged eye.

"She had a follow-up surgery for reconstruction of her nose area, basically to make sure there were no obstructions and that she would have no future issues breathing or eating.

"She had quite a few vet visits and minor procedures and lots of home care.

"That all happened while me and Sam were roommates but Sam took care of all of it because I was working very long hours at the time."

Mugsy, who is now four and a half, lived with the pair for several months before Sam, a phlebotomist, moved to Vancouver, British Columbia.

Mugsy initially lived with Sam, but she had such a bond with Martha, Phoenix's other dog, that she became depressed.

Phoenix said: "Mugsy would get sad because she had a much stronger bond with Martha than Sam's dog, so she came with me eight months ago."

"We're really close she's really attached to me. That's another reason she came back to live here.

"I've had a lot of comments saying that she looks like the cute gremlin, there's also angry gremlins but she doesn't remind me of them because she doesn't get angry.

"She's very bubbly and excited but not in an annoying hyper way. She does these little howls and stomps whenever she's happy."

Mugsy now has a TikTok account with 1.6 million likes and 43k followers.

Phoenix added: "I'm not a big social media person. I was only on TikTok to edit videos, but as soon as I posted it went viral.

"I get a lot of comments saying how nice it is to see a dog who looks different be adored like that. It helps people who might look different feel good.

"I got one comment from a mother of a kid with special needs who said they adored her.

"People just think she's adorable."