INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

Justin Bieber Gives Up His Puppy, For This Great Reason

By Page Mackinley
Published on: 19:52 PST, Jan 4, 2017

Justin Bieber didn’t abandon a sick puppy who needs hip surgery, despite gossip sites copy and pasting Page Six’s inaccurate, negatively-angled story.

Page Six, Perez Hilton, and other media outlets misreported that claim after C.J. Salvador — a male dancer who has worked with Bieber for five years, and whose parents adopted the puppy (Todd) — created a GoFundMe page to raise $8,000 for the surgery.

Some context. Bieber previously owned the puppy. He let fans see his “new little fluff ball Todd” for the first time when he posted a sweet Instagram photo last August.

He also posted a video of the pair, which he captioned, “How are you real?”

Justin Bieber Did Not Abandon A Sick Puppy
Justin Bieber pictured with Todd in August 2016 [Image via Instagram]

However, contrary to Page Six unfairly assuming Bieber dumped Todd because his “infatuation” passed, one source tells the Inquisitr that a Salvador family member previously revealed the Biebs’ other puppy (Esther, a Yorkshire Terrier) wouldn’t accept the new arrival and kept fighting with Todd. This state of affairs prompted the singer to look for a new home for the chow chow.

Fast forward to the now 7-month-old puppy being formally adopted by C.J.’s parents, which the dancer shared in an Instagram post on Wednesday titled “Just To Clear The Air.”

Instagram
C.J. Salvador’s posted a message explaining the correct details of Todd’s story [Image via Instagram]

C.J wrote, “Todd is a Salvador,” adding that his parents adopted the puppy and his family regard him as their “responsibility,” not Justin’s.

Salavador made it clear that he did not ask Bieber for money for the GoFundMe because “he has nothing to do with the situation.”

The dancer also clarified that Justin did not know Todd had a medical condition when the puppy belonged to the Grammy winner, because the breeder “didn’t notify anyone or was oblivious to the fact that Todd was born with this birth defect” when he sold the dog to Bieber.

In fact, C.J. says his own family only recently found out that Todd was born with severe hip dysplasia when they took the dog for a checkup before getting him neutered.

In dogs, hip dysplasia is an abnormal formation of the hip socket that can develop into crippling lameness and painful arthritis.

As Salvador explained at his GoFundMe, if Todd does not have the specialized surgery he requires he won’t be able to “walk, run, let alone play” by the time he’s one-year-old.

The other grim option is putting Todd to sleep, which C.J. says he wouldn’t consider.

Happily, Todd will be getting his needed surgery as the GoFundMe exceeded its target of $8,000. At press time it is at $8,701.

It’s worth noting that C.J. specifically slammed Page Six’s take on the story.

“It really troubles me how the media can make a beautiful and inspiring situation into a petty story to make someone else look bad #page6,” he blasted on Instagram.

C.J. isn’t wrong. Page Six’s headline “Justin Bieber Abandons His Sick Puppy” is profoundly inaccurate, since the singer did not know that Todd had a genetic defect when the puppy was his pet. The dog’s condition was only recently discovered by the Salvador family.

The tabloid claiming Bieber “abandoned” Todd is also over-egged, given that he made the tough call to give up a puppy because the dynamic between Todd and Esther was harmful, and the chow chow needed to be protected.

Justin’s decision to resettle Todd with someone he has known and worked with for five years should be seen as evidence that he cares about the puppy’s welfare.

As for those outlets carping about Bieber’s wealth, C.J. explicitly stated that he didn’t ask the singer for money. In short, the pop star didn’t know about the GoFundMe effort.

It isn’t surprising that mainstream media foisted the “Bieber: Irresponsible Pet Owner” trope onto a scenario that doesn’t merit it. It’s widely known that negative Justin Bieber media stories make for effective clickbait.

In reality, the Biebs’ other puppy, Esther, is thriving in his care. Furthermore, the pop prince’s long-standing giveback record of generosity makes the notion that he would begrudge paying a mere $8,000 to help out his former pet puppy if he’d known about the fund page, not just offensive — but absurd.

[Featured Image by Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images]

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