Animal shelters take in abandoned pets all the time - after all, it's their job to provide food and shelter to dogs and cats who have been left to fend for themselves by owners who either didn't want them anymore or treated them terribly.
It's not every day, however, that a box of animals which has been rescued by a shelter turns out to be wild animals and not domestic pets.
But that's what happened at the Faun Kutina animal shelter in Croatia. Four months ago, it rescued a box of five puppies that had been dumped in a field, but in actual fact the cute little creatures turned out to be jackals.
A woman called Marina who works at the shelter realised the true nature of the beasts after posting images of them online and her followers pointed out that they were, in fact, wild creatures and not Belgian shepherds.
Although two of the animals had died, Marina took the remaining three to a local organisation that protects wild animals who confirmed the actual identity of the remaining cubs.
By that point, however, the cubs had spent too much time in human company to be released back into the wild, and so Marina has since become the first person in Crotia allowed to keep jackals as pets.
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Marina, who wants to show the world that jackals aren't vermin, says that the three cubs - all of whom are female - answer to their own names and have distinct personalities.
According to the Metro, Alfa is the leader of the pack - hence the name, presumably - and the others make sure they stay out of her way when she eats.
Rea loves exploring and stealing human objects such as mobile phones, slippers and toilet paper, and Kia likes to climb and can squeeze herself through tiny holes.
The three have apparently shown no objection to domestic life, and love to be petted and to play. Awwwwww. That's sweet.
Featured Image Credit: CENTopics: News, Weird, Animals, Dogs, Puppies