Just like every story has a beginning, every bond has an origin story—and so does every mission. For one nonprofit, it began with a puppy and a boy, both born with cleft issues.
When Lindsay Weisman first began fostering a French bulldog puppy named Wrigley, a bond began to grow as she cared for him. So when a friend told her they knew someone in Brighton who was interested in meeting the pup, she was resistant. But she decided to meet them anyway--which, as fate would have it-- sparked a new friendship and launched an entire organization dedicated to helping cleft-affected puppies.
During that initial meeting, Avery Fero, whose son Jack was born with a cleft lip and palate, spoke about their journey through numerous surgeries. “There was the cutest boy ever with a scar from his cleft lip. It was so touching, all of us had tears and were overwhelmed by the connection,” Weisman says. “I could not in good conscience not adopt him to that family, and that was where the impetus came from.”
From that union, Cleft Rescue Unit (CRU) was born. The all-volunteer nonprofit organization is dedicated to rescuing neonatal puppies with cleft palates and medical needs. Foster families nurture them so they can find their forever homes with people who understand and are willing to care for any special needs the puppies may have.
Founded in 2023, the organization works with clinics and breeders who call when cleft-affected puppies are born. The issue is especially prevalent among dog breeds with short noses, like French bulldogs.
A puppy with a cleft palate can’t nurse, so they have to be tube-fed for survival. CRU has a network of people who transport puppies from out of state one to three times a week.
When she gets a call, Weisman activates her team of foster parents, five of whom are local to the Rochester area and two of whom are in Ohio, where many puppies are rescued. But they also accept puppies from all over the northeast, including Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia. They raise them, and once they’re the appropriate age, typically eight weeks (though it depends on the severity of the cleft issue or medical issue), they adopt them out.
While cleft-affected puppies are their main focus, they take dogs with many other special needs as well, including puppies with prolapsed rectums, swimmers syndrome and hydrocephalus (pressure from fluid on the brain). They also take puppies born blind, deaf or with birth defects, including puppies born without eyes or legs.
If the puppies in care of CRU don’t transition from tube feeding to eating and drinking food and water normally, they work closely with the Golisano Children's Hospital Pediatric Cleft and Craniofacial Center, with two of the program’s surgeons doing the surgeries pro bono while working closely with veterinarians. Many of the puppies eat and drink well on their own. If they have a lot of infections, which they can be prone to, the CRU team looks at repair, but it’s intensive and complex, so it’s a last resort.
Puppies with cleft palates often have other health problems, so CRU doesn’t often place ones with more extensive issues with children. When they do adopt out puppies to children, which is one of the goals of the organization, it’s typically puppies with a cleft lip, which is more of an aesthetic than a medical issue.
To connect more puppies with cleft-affected children, they partner with organizations, such as Smile Train, the largest cleft organization in the world, so children can interact with them. They bring puppies to events and cleft camps, and this summer they’ll be at Sea Breeze.
“For us as a family, when we get to go to these craniofacial events with the kids and their families. It’s a two-part thing watching these children just connect with these puppies,” Fero says. “And for me to connect with the parents. I’m on a different side of it—it’s been great. It’s cathartic, and it’s been great for my son to connect with the other kids too.”
Since that fateful day four years ago, when Jack and Wrigley (now known as Moto), first met, Fero has become one of Weisman’s foster parents. After all the medical issues Jack has had to deal with as a result of his cleft palate and lip, caring for cleft-affected puppies comes naturally to Fero.
Currently, she’s fostering a cleft-affected Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who will be trained as a service dog for a friend of hers whose daughter has autism. “I think my favorite part is truly watching them [the dogs] live these independent lives, and I feel the same way about my son,” Fero says.
As for Moto and Jack, they’re still buddies. “He’s always been an empathetic child toward any kid who has any type of special needs, and I think Moto has become this new connective piece toward all of that as well,” Fero says. “He does talk about it with his friends, you know ‘Moto, he’s just like me.’"
The organization works with clinics and breeders when cleft-affected puppies are born. The issue is especially prevalent among dog breeds with short noses, like French bulldogs.
A puppy with a cleft palate can’t nurse, so they have to be tube-fed for survival. Five to eight volunteers transport puppies from out of state one to three times a week.
“We’re open to taking care of a lot of special needs; we do what we can to make sure they have happy, fulfilling lives.”