Shelter's staff 'in tears' over a neglected puppy who lost an ear in a dog attack

This quirky-looking puppy left people in tears and won everyone’s hearts despite having had a difficult start in life and losing an ear to a dog attack.

Described as an ‘incredibly gentle and happy’, Bruno was rescued from a life of neglect and, luckily, his sweet nature found him a perfect home.

Chained up, neglected, and attacked

Bruno, a year-old pit bull puppy, had a hard start in life. He was chained up early on, with little attention given to him. He was attacked by another dog at one point, losing one of his ears.

Bruno had been rescued by a North Caroline-based shelter SPCA Wake.

The animal welfare organisation found him suffering from heartworm, a serious disease that results in severe lung disease, heart failure, other organ damage, and death in dogs.

But thanks to much-needed vet care, Bruno pulled through and won the hearts of everyone at the shelter.

Samantha Ranlet from the charity said:

Bruno is an incredibly gentle and happy dog. Despite having such a hard start to life and being treated with neglect, he is incredibly forgiving and has trusted all of us at SPCA Wake from day one.

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He chewed off his favourite toy’s ear

Being such a special dog, it came as no surprise that Bruno got his big break by going viral.

He ripped the ear off a plush dog toy, making for a cute photo as the stuffed pooch resembled him. Uploaded to Facebook, the images got more than 52,000 shares and drew attention to the quirky-looking pup.

According to Ranlet, the shelter team thought it was the cutest thing.

She added:

We later learned that a lot of people’s pets with missing body parts will do the same thing to their toys. Dogs with missing tails, limbs, ears, or eyes apparently have a habit of modifying their toys in the very same way. We found this really interesting, and it made us wonder if Bruno knew.

The charity were left in tears of joy after Bruno finally found his forever home.

A loving home at last

Spc. Levi Pinnix saw SPCA Wake’s Facebook post showing Bruno and his one-eared toy and fell in love with his face.

He was second in line for adopting the special pooch but as the first potential candidate fell through, Levi ended up meeting Bruno. The two got acquainted pretty quickly.

The new owner said:

They opened the door and the first thing he does is run up to you with his tail wagging. After about 30 minutes of playing with him, I knew I was taking him home.

Levi said Bruno is more people-friendly than he expected. He's now enjoying life as an indoor dog and even came house-trained.

He added:

At first, I thought he was going to be skittish or timid around people, but he's such a welcoming, warm, loving dog to have gone through what he did.

Read more:

⋙ Police were left in shock after four dogs were weighed down and thrown into the pond to die

⋙ Heartbreak over a starving dog left behind to eat plastic and ‘crawl with maggots’

Sources used:

- Mirror: 'Neglected one-eared dog and matching toy finally find new forever home together'

- WRAL News: 'Fort Bragg Army specialist gives formerly neglected pit bull a new life'