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.
Mike and his colleagues did everything they could to give this poor pup some well-deserved love and care.
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.
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!
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 a 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.
Be sure to check out Mike’s adorable first reunion with this brave pitbull puppy below.
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