Former ASPCA Poster Pup Gets Second Chance at Happy Life

You’ve seen the ads for the ASPCA, the ones that make your heart break staring into the eyes of dejected abused animals. Well, that dog was once “Timmy” Cooper. Timmy was only eight weeks old when he was rescued from the country’s second largest dog-fighting bust this past summer. The photos of Timmy as a tiny pup, chained by the neck to a metal stake travelled from the scene of the crime to billboards and advertisement banners across the country, making him the veritable poster-pup of animal abuse.

The circumstances surrounding Timmy’s stardom are certainly not ones that any animal would wish to endure – even for a national ad campaign – but the life it has brought Timmy was definitely worth it. After being rescued by the ASPCA, Timmy became a foster dog and after being roughed around by one of his guardian’s pet pig, he found himself in the loving home of the DeCicco’s.

Although Timmy was a pit bull raised with a fighting background, the DeCicco’s did not hesitate for a second in bringing Timmy into their home. Brian DeCicco explains, he and his wife were not concerned about Timmy, “because we’ve both had dogs our whole lives and know that they can reflect the way they are treated.”

Judging from these photos of Timmy, happily settled into his new family, he is being treated with all the love and care he deserves.

Pit bulls are often misunderstood and people assume that the breed has been genetically selected to be aggressive and violent, but this is merely a myth and not a fact that can be applied to all pit bulls. When it comes down to it, all that pit bulls (like all other animals!) want is to love and be loved by their guardians.

Seeing the image of small Timmy chained to the dirt only two months after birth illustrates precisely how it is that good dogs can go bad when they are raised knowing nothing but fear and pain. It has taken Timmy no time at all to learn how to love and snuggle from his wonderful guardians. As DeCicco states, “These dogs [pit bulls] show amazing resiliency and forgiveness after being treated so poorly,” a message that anyone thinking about adopting a rescue should take to heart. Timmy is just one example of the incredible number of abused animals that can be given a proper home. Just think of all the other wagging tails there could be if every abused animal could find a new home!

Image Source : Brian DeCicco via the Huffington Post