A pit bull who defied all odds by surviving extremely difficult situations has finally found a loving foster home.
JJ has been a fighter since his birth. He was found on Dowdy Ferry Road near Dallas, Texas – a location commonly used to dump unwanted dogs where most of them usually die after being hit by heavy traffic.
And although JJ, the brave fighter, somehow managed to stay alive by avoiding the heavy traffic, he couldn’t find anything to eat and suffered from severe starvation.
When he was found by the local animal rescue groups, he was in a bad shape and his ribs were clearly visible. JJ was 9 months old at the time.
“Animal control found him out there living on his own,” Patti Dawson, president of the local rescue group, Dallas DogRRR, told The Dodo.
“He was pretty emaciated … you could see his rib lines. I don’t know how long he lived out there on the streets, but he pretty much fended for himself out there until he was rescued.”
However, it wasn’t the end of JJ’s ordeal since the local shelter was too small containing just 6 kennels and could take only a limited number of dogs.
The animal control also found that JJ was deaf and bind.
After arriving at the shelter, JJ didn’t do well as other rescued dogs. He neither ate nor showed any significant signs of improvement.
The maximum time JJ was allowed to stay there was 2 weeks and if he didn’t show any sign of improvement or get adopted by someone during that time, the shelter was supposed to euthanize him to clear up space for incoming dogs.
Fortunately, someone stopped by the shelter just at the right time. It was Marina Tarashevska, who works with the shelter to find new homes for the abandoned dogs by networking with animal foster families and kennels.
Along with other dogs, the shelter authorities also brought JJ to Tarashevska for a little while but she didn’t decide to take anyone with her.
However, when she was just about to leave, JJ tried to stop her.
The little dog extended his paw out of his cage in an attempt to show the woman that he wanted her to stay. “He was putting his paw out, and begging to be saved,” Tarashevska said.
“It was so sad because it’s so scary at that shelter … and he was so lost in there. It’s the most heartbreaking thing to leave a dog who’s begging you like that.”
It was when Tarashevka decided to take JJ along with her. She met Dawson and asked her to cancel JJ’s euthanization and allow him to go with her.
Tarashevka first took JJ to a vet after which she used all her resources to find a foster home for him. And thanks to her efforts, she found an excellent foster home for the little dog.
At his temporary home where he is well-taken care of, JJ has started improving rapidly. His foster family feeds him tasty snakes and takes him on walks!
After some more time with the foster family, JJ will be put up for adoption so that he can find a forever home. But right now, he is living the life he deserves!