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Red, a one-year-old Pomeranian who was a pseudo hermaphrodite, recently underwent an $1, 165 gender reassignment surgery and is now a male dog.

The 90 minute surgical procedure has given the Pomeranian puppy found wandering San Bernardino, California streets, a new life as a male. The puppy was born with partially formed male and female reproductive organs has been saved from possible euthanasia after one woman’s donation allowed for gender reassignment surgery costing $1,165.

Red, as the dog is being called until it is adopted, needed the surgery to prevent infection and reduce the risk of developing cancer.

The condition is so rare that published data do not include an estimated percentage of the pet population with the condition. Veterinarians see it once in a 30-year-old career, if at all, said San Bernardino veterinarian Marc DiCarlo. In humans, it occurs in three out of 100,000 people.

“I just felt he was a very adoptable dog,” said Sharon Blechinger, director of the Helping Every Animal League, a nonprofit support group that helps pay for vaccinations at the San Bernardino shelter.

Blechinger paid for Red’s surgery out of her own pocket, because the organization couldn’t afford it and because the dog “is in this position through no fault of its own. I didn’t want them to put the dog to sleep.”

Red was diagnosed the dog as a pseudo-male hermaphrodite. Genetically male, the pooch was born with partially formed male and female parts.

The little transgender pom has recently been adopted into his “forever home” since the surgery.

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