Two months ago, the Taylors were looking for that special addition to their family. Chuck and Lisa Taylor already had their one-eyed golden retriever rescue named Jack, but they realized he needed a companion to share his life with.

Hero grew up on the streets of Istanbul. Amongst 50,000 other stray dogs, he competed for food daily and lived in filth. But somewhere during his unfortunate life circumstances, Hero was rescued along with 35 of his other golden friends by Adopt a Golden Atlanta, volunteer, nonprofit organization dedicated to finding warm, loving homes for stray golden retrievers. They flew them from the streets of Istanbul all the way to Atlanta, Georgia, where dozens of families waited eagerly for their arrival, including the Taylor family. Each dog found their perfect family, and when Hero met Chuck and Lisa, it was love at first sight.

“Rescuing a dog is a little bit different than going out and buying a purebred dog, there’s no question about that.” Taylor said, according to USAToday. “It makes you feel good, it makes your heart feel good. You know that you’re doing something good for the world and the community and for the dog that needed rescuing.”

Although Hero was born with a deformed elbow and a crooked front leg, that didn’t stop the Taylor family from treating him as an equal. He had undergone three surgeries in Turkey and, upon his arrival in the United States, it was determined that he needed one more surgery to successfully repair his elbow and leg.

Hero is now well on his way to recovery in a loving home with Chuck, Lisa, and of course, Jack.

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