My dog is a badass

When I rescued my dog in 2017, they didn’t have much information about his history. Although on paper they said he was two years old, it was apparent he was much younger, albeit big for his age.

I was informed that he came from a farm somewhere down south in the US, and ended up in a pound because he and his pack were getting rounds fired at them by someone (still have no more info on this).

From the farm, he ended up in a puppy mill in Ohio, where he was then taken by the Humane Society and ended up in New York, which is where I rescued him and took him home.

He’s an incredible dog and my best friend. We’ve always jived so well with each other, and are so compatible at every level. He’s been a rock for me through some difficult trials in the last few years- post traumatic stress and clinical depression- which are residual from a shooting incident I was involved in as a police officer where I stared down the barrel of a gun and nearly lost my life. Many times I’ve felt as though the universe pushed him toward me so I can have some respite from my troubles.

Today, he was getting sick so I took him to the emergency vet. In an abundance of caution, I had them take an X-ray to make sure there were no obstructions in his bowels. What I saw in the X-ray made my jaw drop.

In the photo you can see a couple pellets of buckshot above his spine. He had actually been shot by someone.

Although it destroys me to know that someone has harmed my best friend, who is so undeserving of such cruel behavior, I also feel a strange sense of pride and comfort.

Knowing now that my best friend who loves me so unconditionally had nearly faced the same fate as I nearly had is so powerful. It makes me feel so much intimately closer to him knowing that we share such a similar trauma. And the fact that we’ve both experienced our traumas and are still here living our lives together and supporting one another gives me a powerful new perspective that is so comforting.

We were meant to find each other.