Abused Dog Who Was Dragged Behind a Car Gets a Second Chance at Life (PHOTOS)

Julie Jones Horton was driving along the road in Easley, South Carolina when she saw a small, limping figure in the distance. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was a dog who was bleeding from its mouth due to an unknown injury. Horton took a blanket out of her car to swaddle the dog, but it panicked and ran into the woods.

The dog was losing a great deal of blood and she knew that it would bleed out soon. In a display of selfless compassion, Horton gave a mile long chase through the woods. In the end, she was able to corral the frightened, wounded animal into the car of someone who had stopped to help.

Horton took the dog, now called Belle, to the Magnolia Veterinarian Hospital. She learned that Belle had been shot, hit by a car, and dragged behind one as well. According to the vet,  this wasn’t the first time Belle had been subjected to abuse. There were older scars that could have dated back to her puppy-hood.

Belle has been abused multiple times according to the vet…

Animal abuse cases are grossly under reported. Because of this, thousands of animals each year are subject to repeat abuses just like Belle.

Belle was lucky that she was discovered by someone who cared enough to help, but most abused animals end up forgotten and die alone. If you want to see justice done in the future, learn how to identify animal abuse (here’s a helpful link) and how to respond appropriately when you do see it.

However, it does seem like the animal rights situation is looking up despite the amount of cases that we see each year. Many abusers are either jailed by the court system or subjected to vigilante justice. This is a far cry from just a few years ago when abusers were lucky to get fined.

Belle is doing okay now, but for her to make a full recovery she’s going to need help.

The initial veterinary bill was about $1,000. Horton and another helper paid as much of that bill as they could, but Belle is going to need repeat treatments if she’s going to heal properly. If you would like to Donate to help Belle, please contact Magnolia Veterinarian Hospital to find out how to Donate.  Every little bit helps!

All image source: Julie Horton