A year after adoption, bullies overcome rough start in life and meet up for a reunion in O.C.

A bunch of bullies came together Saturday with shared stories of abuse and neglect.

Their shaky start in life included isolation and lack of human contact. Eventually they were put into the foster system and were quickly adopted by loving families who nurtured them through their issues and fears.

Stewie, Beau, Xena, Deuce, Charlotte, Dreidal, and about a dozen more snorting, wheezing, barrel-chested French and English bulldogs came together for a celebratory reunion at WAGS Pet Adoption in Westminster.

One year ago, they were among 78 bulldogs seized by animal control and rescue authorities from a Westminster backyard breeder.

“One-year-ago the dogs had urine-soaked (paws), no hair, and wounds everywhere. They were not socialized. They had never been touched by people and were in crates. They were breeding stock. Look what a year of being loved does,” shelter manager Cortney  Domey, said.

At the time they were rescued, the dogs ranged from 6 months to 12 years old — most of them were 2 to 5 years old.

WAGS received 3,000 applications from people who wanted to adopt them.

Brian and Donna Welsh of San Pedro were two of the lucky ones. They chose Mango, a homely dog by Brian’s own admission, who no one showed interest in during the initial stage of adoptions. “When I saw her she kept looking at me with her tongue out like this,” Donna said, mimicking the dog’s sideward drooping tongue.

“She connected to me in a weird way. She looks like me. She’s short, brown and fat,” Donna joked.  “I can’t imagine life without her. When I look at her I cry thinking about what her life was.”

She adds happily, “And she’ll make a great big sister.” The couple are expecting their first child in June.

Adriana Fletcher of Huntington Beach adopted Charlotte, a 2-year-old French bulldog, for her 10-year-old daughter Bella. “The best thing about her is she likes to cuddle. She licks me when I wake up and then lays on me,” Bella said of her 23-pound pooch. She explained that the difference between French bulldogs and English bulldogs is that French bulldogs have “batwing ears that stick up.”

Mackenzie Domey, 14, shelter manager Cortney Domey’s daughter, had to convince her dad the family that already had two dogs — a 165-pound Newfoundland and a 7-pound chihuahua — needed a 65-pound bulldog.

“It was pretty easy. The way we convinced him was we let him name the dog,” she said. So now their male dog is called Matilda.

Mackenzie loves Matilda’s “craziness and goofiness. He’s afraid of plastic bags and runs laps around the hallway when he sees one.”

“When puppies aren’t exposed to common items and are kept in a cage all the time, everything becomes scary,” her mom explains of the dogs’ early life.

Deuce and Beau received the event’s “most improved” award. Justin Kitching, owner of 45-pound Deuce, said his dog weighte just 32 pounds when adopted. “He was very skittish, had horrible mange and smelled terrible. We had to give him a sulfur bath every week to treat him,” he said.

Kitching, of Granada Hills, has an aerospace manufacturing business and brought the dog to work every day to help socialize him. “He brightens the mood of the shop,” he said.

Mike and Nicole Stephenson and their son Dylan, 11, said their 3-year-old bulldog Xena was scared and didn’t know how to interact with the family.

“As soon as we put her in our bed she morphed into our family,” Nicole said.

“She’s just a love bug,” Mike said. “She loves you and she wants you to love her too. And I’m OK with that because I’m like that too.”

Saturday and Sunday WAGS is offering all cat and kitten adoptions for $10. Go to: https://wagspetadoption.org