--- title: Quasimodo, Dog With Short Spine, Capturing Hearts Everywhere description: Quasimodo, a rescue dog with a rare medical condition, is looking for a home. canonical: https://time.com/4204621/quasimodo-dog-short-spine-syndrome/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-02T19:09:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:29:36.736Z og:title: Quasimodo, the Dog With a Short Spine, Is Capturing Hearts Everywhere og:description: "He is the definition of the qualities we all admire in our dogs" og:url: https://time.com/4204621/quasimodo-dog-short-spine-syndrome/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Quasimodo, the Dog With a Short Spine, Is Capturing Hearts Everywhere twitter:description: "He is the definition of the qualities we all admire in our dogs" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Quasimodo, the Dog With a Short Spine, Is Capturing Hearts Everywhere > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Feb 2, 2016 7:09 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Feb 2, 2016 7:09 PM UTC Quasimodo, a rescue [dog](http://time.com/4005066/maru-shiba-inu-best-dog/) with a rare medical condition, is looking for a home. The inspirational story of the 4-year-old [German shepherd](http://time.com/3703105/german-shepherd-dog-sings-maroon-5-animal/) with short spine syndrome has taken the Internet by storm since he was taken in by Secondhand Hounds, an animal shelter in Eden Prairie, Minn., on Thursday. He is [one of only 14 known dogs](https://www.facebook.com/quasithegreat/posts/868549566600198) in the world who have this syndrome. “Quasimodo has nothing wrong with him. He’s just a little different than ‘normal’ dogs,” [said Sara Anderson](https://gma.yahoo.com/german-shepherd-named-quasimodo-living-rare-spinal-condition-203223125--abc-news-pets.html), the [large breed](http://time.com/4193854/dog-carries-veterinarian-on-back/) foster coordinator for the shelter. “His body is compressed because of his condition, so all of his organs are crammed in his belly.” Quasi was given [his own Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/quasithegreat/timeline) page on Thursday, and has already garnered more than 52,000 followers to date. On Monday, Secondhand Hounds posted an update on the pup’s ongoing medical treatments. **Read More:** [See How this German Shepherd Saved a Baby Elephant](http://time.com/4182544/baby-elephant-german-shepherd-gog/) Anderson explained that Quasi’s temporary foster family named him after the protagonist from _The Hunchback of Notre Dame_. “The Quasi of Secondhand Hounds is our hero because he is the definition of the qualities we all admire in our dogs,” the foster parent said. “Born different, but never knowing any other way, he seeks to please the people who have shown him kind hands and warm hearts. He may not be as pretty as many dogs on the outside, but his heart and soul shine through and make him one of God’s most beautiful creatures.” Fans will be able to follow along with his adoption journey on Facebook. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4204621/quasimodo-dog-short-spine-syndrome/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4204621/quasimodo-dog-short-spine-syndrome/"},"headline":"Quasimodo, the Dog With a Short Spine, Is Capturing Hearts Everywhere","datePublished":"2016-02-02T19:09:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:29:36.736Z","description":"\"He is the definition of the qualities we all admire in our dogs\"","url":"https://time.com/4204621/quasimodo-dog-short-spine-syndrome/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","Dogs","Pets"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4204621/quasimodo-dog-short-spine-syndrome/","name":"Quasimodo, the Dog With a Short Spine, Is Capturing Hearts Everywhere"}}]}] ```