A lot of us
like to shower our pets with affection and love, but tragically, there are also
some terrible animal owners out there, and it just shows that some people
should never come near animals for their own safety.
One of those
people was Chunk’s owner, an adorable three-month-old puppy who seemingly lost
all of her joy and energy.
Ever
since she was born, her owner treated her terribly.
After three
months, they simply abandoned her on the side of the road, tied to a tree so
she couldn’t escape.
The poor
puppy was left out in the rain, completely in panic and probably wondering what
she could’ve possibly done wrong.
Luckily, the
local fire department came across the trapped puppy, even though it was
coincidental. During a cold October day in Sacramento, a crew of the department
managed to rescue Chunk just in time.
They were
actually responding to an urgent call and noticed the four-footer on the side
of the road. Because it was an emergency, the team couldn’t just stop right
away but had to come back after their call was dealt with.
The harsh
weather was very hard on her, the firefighters still recall how the poor little
thing was absolutely shivering because of the cold.
Firefighter
Mike Thawley was the one that decided to take little Chunk under his wing and
took her back to the fire department station.
Because she
was still feeling immensely cold, the first thing they did was give her a warm
bath accompanied by a lot of hugs and cuddles from a number of firefighters.
She wasn’t
only suffering from the cold, however, it was clear from the beginning that she
was dealing with severe mange. It’s definitely not uncommon to see the skin
illness in dogs that were neglected or abused by their owners.
Chunk
received first aid at the fire department and was later brought to an animal
shelter for further care, and to one day find her loving forever home.
The Front
Street Animal Shelter took her in to treat her mange and made sure that would
make a full recovery. A foster home was also found where she could stay
temporarily until she got better.
It did take a while before her fur would start to grow back, and Chunk’s rehabilitation didn’t go as smoothly as they had hoped.
Source: Sacramento Fire Department, Facebook
While Chunk
was spending her days at the shelter or at her foster home, there was one
person in particular who couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Firefighter Mike Thawley returned to the shelter with quite the surprise.
The pitbull
definitely didn’t forget who this man was, and you can just see how energetic
and joyful she is when she reunites with her rescuer.
“We all
just kind of fell in love with her,” the Sacramento Fire Department posted on
their Facebook page.
Mike didn’t come to the shelter alone, his wife and three daughters came along too. And they were there for a special reason!
Source: Sacramento Fire Department, Facebook
The
firefighter and his family were willing to take care of her forever.
“Although
Mike denies it, it appears by a vote of four to one that Chunk might wind up
with permanent home!” the post says with a laugh.
It took four
months before Mike and his family were able to take her home because her mange
treatment wasn’t finished yet, but they were all very happy to adopt her after
all that time.
“I think
what’s great about this whole story is that not only did this dog find its
forever home, but had the opportunity to go to a foster home, which we’re
always looking for at our shelter, to get happy and healthy,” one of the
shelter staff members, Bobby Mann, added.
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