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Puppy Shot 18 Times with BB Gun Adopted by Girl Who Lost Therapy Dog

Brody, a tiny, 6-week-old Lab mix who somehow managed to survive being shot with a BB gun 18 times by two loser teenagers, will soon be in a very loving forever home.

After Brody’s story gained international attention earlier this week, hundreds of adoption offers poured in to Project Safe Pet.

The “winners” of this sweet and very resilient puppy are Carla and her 10-year-old daughter, Kailey, of Rock Hill, S.C. Just last month, the family had to euthanize Kailey’s 15-year-old therapy dog, a Lab named Woodrow who Kailey had grown up with.

“She was with him when he was put to sleep. “Right there, laying beside him on the bed, holding him the whole time,” Carla, who asked that their last name not be used, told The Herald.

“He was her best friend. She looked forward to coming home every day. Every day, he was at the school bus stop.”

Alicia Schwartz, vice president of Project Safe Pet, told The Herald the selection process was difficult. The connection between Kailey and Brody was “really cool,” she said.

Brody was found by a maintenance worker who saw a group of about 20 teenagers playing with the puppy outside the Wildwood Springs Apartments complex in Rock Hill. When he saw the puppy was bleeding heavily, he notified the police, who were told that someone who lived in the complex had shot Brody and had also thrown a knife at the puppy.

The police took Brody to Ebenezer Animal Hospital, where he was treated for his wounds. Fortunately the thugs who shot Brody had really bad aim, and missed his major organs.

“There is no doubt here, this is one of the worst acts I’ve ever seen and it’s hard to think that someone could be capable of doing something to an animal this young and defenseless,” Dr. Jay Hreiz told WSOC.

Brody is too young to have the 18 BBs surgically removed. Since they’re not lodged near any vital organs, they may stay in Brody’s body for the rest of his life.

“He’s really young, so he has a remarkable ability to heal at his age,” Hreiz told WSOC. “Brody may be able to live a healthy, normal life with all those BBs in him.”

Brody and his littermates had been given away by someone in a Wal-mart parking lot, The Herald reports.

Two arrests were made Tuesday in connection with the shooting. De’Monte Ty’Juan Douglas, 17, and an unidentified 14-year-old are facing animal cruelty charges. As of Tuesday afternoon, Douglas remained without bond in the Rock City jail, the News & Observer reported, while the other loser was released to one of his parents pending a court appearance.

Animal cruelty is a felony in South Carolina. If found guilty, Brody’s two torturers face up to five years in prison.

Despite everything his poor young pup went through, Brody is “so trusting of people, which amazes me,” Carla told The Herald. “You would think he would be fearful of people or younger kids. It was amazing how he took to the kids.”

Kailey told her mom that when she looks in Brody’s eyes, she sees her beloved Woodrow.

“I see the same eyes,” she said. “I feel like he sent him to me.”

Photo via Twitter

Big-Hearted Veterinarian Enjoys a Meal with Scared Dog in Cage [Video]

Just as CJ the German Shorthaired Pointer won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show last night, Dr. Andy Mathis, of Granite Hills Animal Care in Elberton, Ga., should win a Best in Veterinarians award.

When Mathis saw Graycie, an abandoned Pit Bull mix, cowering in the corner of her cage, refusing to eat, the vet joined her.

In a touching video he made Feb. 13 that’s gone viral — and that’s led to many adoption offers — Mathis climbs inside Graycie’s cage and sits beside her, eating and offering the dog her own dish. Eventually Graycie starts eating, too.

“We’ve had dogs in the past that took up to six weeks to feel comfortable getting outside, and then they love to play, they love other dogs and they love me,” Mathis told ABC News. “It doesn’t make me sad to see [dogs] broken and withdrawn because with time, I know what’s possible.”

Graycie, who’s about 2 years old, was brought to the animal hospital on Jan. 29 by someone who found her dumped on a little-traveled dirt road.

“Emaciated, starved (20 lbs.), dehydrated, hypothermic (temp of 95), anemic and with a vaginal prolapse,” Mathis wrote on the hospital’s Facebook page. “Practical Me says I should put her to sleep, but Veterinarian Me wants to try and give her a chance.”

Mathis decided to give Graycie a chance. He took her to the University of Georgia (UGA) Veterinary Teaching Hospital, where specialists were able to reduce her prolapse, get her temperature back up and rehydrate her. Mathis took her back to Granite Hills Animal Care, and she’s been making a slow but sure recovery.

“She had a collar, so she was owned by somebody at some point,” Mathis told ABC News. “Whoever was feeding her wasn’t feeding her enough. She was 20 pounds when we found her and probably should have weighed 30 to 35 pounds.”

With Mathis by her side, Graycie has gained five pounds. He sometimes hand-feeds her.

“She’s still quite timid around me,” he said. “I’m spending time with her so she’s not scared of me.”

Graycie will be ready for a loving new forever home in a few weeks. In the meantime, as Mathis pointed out, there are plenty of other dogs across the country waiting to be adopted.

“By sharing her story, it brings awareness to other pets who need homes,” he told ABC News.

To make a donation to help Dr. Mathis and Granite Hills Animal Care save more pets, click here.

Photo credit: Dr. Andy Mathis

Watch a Guide Dog in Training Get Schooled by Pluto at Disneyland

Ace, a young pup being trained to be a guide dog, got an obedience lesson from a very famous dog during a December visit to Disneyland.

In a viral video with nearly 10.7 million views as of this afternoon, Ace can be seen assuming the down position at Pluto’s command.

 

“We went to Disneyland for a few hours as a socialization experience,” Sandy Steinblums, who raised Ace as a volunteer with Guide Dogs of America, wrote on Facebook. “What you didn’t see AFTER the 14-15 second video where he settled in a DOWN was his DOWN/STAY for a few minutes while Pluto tried to break his stay.”

Steinblums was too far away from Ace “to do a proper correction, but golly-be….he responded anyway,” she wrote.

Ace began his formal training at the end of January. It will take six to nine months of working with licensed trainers before he’s ready to graduate and become someone’s guide dog.

“That is my boy and I am proud of him, and love the Disney characters for being so kind and helpful!” Steinblums wrote.

Photo via Facebook

Once Again, Uber Delivers Adoptable Puppies for 15 Minutes of Pure Joy

For the second year in a row, to celebrate the big game this Sunday — yep, Puppy Bowl XII — Uber is teaming up with Animal Planet to deliver adoptable puppies Wednesday in seven U.S. cities.

For $30, Uber drivers and rescue representatives will deliver puppies for 15 minutes of play time during the #UberPuppyBowl event. And that’s not all — the entire $30 is donated to the rescue that supplied the puppies.

Just make sure your boss or building is okay with hosting a quarter-hour of puppy goodness. And be sure to have an enclosed space or a room available in which to play with the puppies.

In the very likely event that you fall in love with one of the puppies, the rescue representative will be happy to get you started on the adoption process. During the debut of #UberPuppyBowl last year, more than 70 of puppies found forever homes (including Pepper Jack, the itty bitty Pittie in the photo above).

Playdates are available Feb. 3 between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. The participating cities this year are Chicago; Denver; Los Angeles/Orange County; New York; Phoenix; San Francisco/San Jose; and Washington, D.C.

To request a puppy delivery — and do realize the demand will be high, so be very patient — open the Uber app and select the “Puppies” option.

For more information, visit the Uber website.

Photo via Twitter

George Clooney Adopts Unwanted Rescue Pup for His Parents

Just three months ago, George and Amal Clooney made news headlines for adopting a 4-year-old Basset Hound named Millie from the San Gabriel Valley Humane Society in Southern California. The couple didn’t even send one of their people to pick up Millie after they fell in love with her picture and story on Petfinder — they went to the shelter in person (bringing along their rescue dog Louie), much to the delight of employees and visitors.

“It definitely added to the excitement on one of our busiest afternoons when we do vaccinations for the public,” shelter spokeswoman Lynn Collmann told the Huffington Post.

Now another lucky shelter dog is in a forever home, thanks to George Clooney.

Nate, a scruffy terrier with birth defects who was rescued from a hoarding situation, was having a really difficult time getting adopted from LuvFurMutts Animal Rescue in Fairfield, Ohio.

“When we took Nate to adoption events, people would stare and kids would point,” the rescue wrote on its website. “Several people applied to adopt him but then said no when they met him. … The lowest point came when an adopter cried when she met him and said she would be depressed the rest of her life if she had to look at him every day.”

LuvFurMutts saw Nate as “a handsome, charming, sweet and normal little boy” — and so did Clooney.

A beloved 10-year-old terrier belonging to his parents, Nick and Nina Clooney, died last year. After viewing Nate’s video, Clooney thought the dog would make a perfect Christmas present for the couple.

“What is impressive is the fact that George picked Nate out, and Nick and Nina accepted Nate just the way he is,” wrote LuvFurMutts. “They could have any dog in the world, but they chose to adopt a dog who was crippled and could have been with LuvFurMutts for life.”

Not only did Clooney adopt Nate, but he also made a donation to LuvFurMutts to cover the cost of the dog’s previous surgeries.

Nate was delivered to Clooney’s parents on Christmas Eve by Carol Roberts, founder of LuvFurMutts.

“To say we were startled would be an understatement,” Nick Clooney told radio station WCPO, adding that it seemed more like Nate adopted them rather than vice versa.

“A wonderful way to find a certain part of your life completed in a way that cannot be touched in any other fashion,” said Nate’s new dog dad.

Nate “will be spoiled to death for the rest of his life,” LuvFurMutts wrote. “From fighting to get food in his belly each day to being the only fur baby of two of the most wonderful people in Augusta, Ky.

“It’s truly a fairy tale ending for Prince Nate…or should we say, a perfect Hollywood movie ending!”

To make a donation to help LuvFurMutts save more dogs, click here.

Photo via Facebook

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