Dogs are such beautiful, friendly creatures that it’s very hard to imagine why anyone would want to cause them harm or put them in danger.
And yet sadly dog fighting is still a real problem. It’s an illegal activity that puts countless innocent dogs through physical and psychological torture, leaving them with scars that never fully heal.
Not all the victims are used as “fighters,” some are “bait dogs” who are attacked as part of fight training.
When one of these dogs was hastily abandoned by their cruel owners, a rescue stepped up to give her a second chance by helping him recover from the trauma she had been through.
Last January, Second Chance Rescue in New York City got an unexpected new arrival when a 3-year-old dog was found dumped in a container outside the shelter.
The dog was found in horrific condition, and the shelter realized based on the nature of her wounds that she had been being used as a bait dog.
Not only did she have wounds, but she was also gravely ill, anemic and suffering from worms. Another dog had to give her a blood transfusion.
They feared her old, untreated wounds had grown necrotic and gave her antibiotics. They named the dog Bunny, and wrote that she would be in the hospital for a “very long time.”
“Her condition is very upsetting and had the shelter very shook up yesterday,” Second Chance wrote on Facebook. “We continuously wonder why people choose to own animals and treat them this way … no animal deserves what has happened to Bunny.”
Despite the trauma, Bunny began to recover, being properly cared for for possibly the first time in her life.
“Bunny is taking her time settling and relaxing into her new self,” the shelter wrote. “She is safe, loved and happy.”
Because Bunny was dropped off anonymously, they’ll never know where she came from or what exactly happened to her. But the thought still filled them with rage.
“I often wonder what goes through the minds of people who hurt animals with no remorse whatsoever. Is torturing animals a perverted sociopathic popularity contest explicitly designed to nearly kill loving animals?”
Time passed, and soon Bunny’s personality began to shine. Second Chance called her “one of the cutest dogs we have ever seen,” and said she had delighted everyone at the hospital. They also discovered she was good with cats.
In an April update, Second Chance reported that “due to the horrific extent of her injuries,” Bunny’s tail sadly had to be amputated.
Despite that, there was good news, too: Bunny was finally up for adoption.
The shelter shared a before-and-after photo of Bunny, showing how far she had come in those three months, turning a “setback into a comeback.”
Bunny no longer appears on Second Chance’s dog adoption page, so it seems like she got adopted.
We hope she’s happy in her new forever home, and has a nice relaxing life… she’s definitely earned it!
Thank you to Second Chance for not giving up on this poor dog! Share this inspiring story!