The Bachelor’s Matty ‘J’ Johnson worried that Laura Byrne’s beloved three-legged pooch Buster would be ‘aggressive’ due to being a rescue dog – as he encourages pet adoption
She adopted a three-legged rescue dog named Buster before finding fame on The Bachelor.
Add on Friday, Laura Byrne, 33, urged people to ignore the ‘stigma’ surrounding shelter animals and adopt a pet in need.
‘I think people often think that rescue animals are damaged or that they’ve been through a lot of trauma and they are going to be difficult house pets but it is really not the case,’ she told the Herald Sun.
Part of the family! In an interview with the Herald Sun on Friday, The Bachelor’s Laura Byrne (right) and Matty ‘J’ Johnson (left) urged people to put aside the ‘stigma’ of adopting a rescue dog after welcoming their beloved three-legged rescue pooch Buster. Pictured with their daughter Marlie Mae
Her fiancé Matthew ‘Matty J’ Johnson admitted to the publication that before dating Laura, he wouldn’t have considered a rescue dog as he believed they were ‘aggressive’.
‘I had that stigma so I am so glad that I met Buster and it has corrected the situation on rescue dogs and what they are actually like,’ he said.
He also explained anyone nervous about welcoming a pet into their home should take them on a ‘road test’ first.
‘I think people often think that rescue animals are damaged or that they’ve been through a lot of trauma and they are going to be difficult house pets but it is really not the case’: Laura adopted Buster before she found fame on The Bachelor
‘What is great about rescue dogs is you have the ability to foster them before you actually commit,’ he said.
While Buster is a beloved member of the family, he did cause Laura a spot of bother while out on a walk which she revealed on her Life Uncut podcast last week.
As Buster has had one leg amputated to his shoulder, he’s unable to walk on a leash for long periods, because he often gets ‘pulled to the side where he doesn’t have a leg.’
Changed his mind: Matthew admitted that before dating Laura, he wouldn’t have considered a rescue dog as he believed they were ‘aggressive’ but meeting Buster ‘corrected’ that assumption
Instead of taking the pooch to a dog park where he can exercise off the leash, Laura decided to walk him without a lead on the popular walkway at Bondi.
‘Never, ever ever have I been booked by a ranger because usually, rangers go, ‘oh, your dog is quite clearly disabled’,’ Laura explained.
She added: ‘The ranger pretended like he was going to pat Buster and instead, he patted him and was like ‘oh, nice dog’ and he scanned his microchip and I was like ‘you are an evil man’. It was evil. I was like ‘my dog is disabled’.
Rule breaker! While Buster is a beloved member of the family, he did cause Laura a spot of bother while out on a walk last week when she let him off leash at Bondi and a ranger tried to issue her a fine
‘There are so many levels of this that I’m not okay with. And then I started to get real crazy on the promenade. I was like ‘I would like to know your name and your details’.
‘I understand it’s the law, sometimes rules are meant to be broken, people,’ the influencer explained.
‘We ended up getting off with a warning. There’s a lot of conflicting information out there about three-legged dogs and leads.
‘I was like ‘the laws do not accommodate for my disabled dog’. I got very theatrical on his a**. So he didn’t fine me after all, I got off with a warning,’ she bragged.
‘We ended up getting off with warning’: Laura protested due to her dog’s disability and was eventually let go with a warning