The lonely cat would often show up in a certain family’s backyard, looking for some food and affection.

Then one day, Tommy showed up as usual … but very clearly, something awful had happened to the poor kitty.

Tommy had severe burns all over his face and he was obviously in a lot of pain.

In horror, the family realized that someone had poured acid all over the innocent creature!

Well, they couldn’t just let Tommy walk around like that, so they quickly scooped him up and rushed him to the vet’s.

And at first, after the vet realized Tommy had FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus), he wanted to put the cat down.

But the family didn’t like that idea, because they really saw something special in Tommy…

They believed this cat had a ton to offer the world; there was just something about his personality.

So, despite the odds being stacked against Tommy, they decided to push forward and give him a chance: they contacted Milo’s Sanctuary to see if they would accept the suffering cat.

Thankfully, they were happy to take Tommy in, and that’s when his long road to recovery began.

For six long weeks, Tommy slowly got better and better. He underwent numerous skin grafts and lots of bandaging and rebandaging, too.

But Tommy never lost his lovable demeanor and as it turns out, that attitude, coupled with his “new look,” went a long way…

As lo and behold, the family was exactly right: they really HAD seen something special in Tommy, because this kitty had what Hollywood calls, “the ‘it’ factor!”

Incredibly, the unique-looking kitty became the camera’s best friend overnight!

Tommy’s quirky face and outgoing personality are perfect for pictures, as Milo’s Sanctuary president Michele Hoffman says:

“He loves to go out in the public and meet friends.

He’s kind of a ham and knows when he’s having his photo taken.

He loves tuna flakes and that’s one of our secrets to the great photos of him. He would do just about anything for some tuna flakes.”

Though Tommy has only one eye, he doesn’t act like a disabled animal at all.

He loves all the attention!

And now that he’s such a big hit, Tommy has his own Instagram account under the fantastic name, Sir Thomas Trueheart.

Added Hoffman:

“That has been the most amazing thing to be a part of … how much people love him and how much he’s inspired people all over the world.

On his [Instagram] account every Thursday we do Cruelty Free Thursday with Tommy and cover different subjects, and it is our desire to get people motivated to make a difference locally and globally for those who cannot speak for themselves.”

From being a frightened stray that gets acid dumped all over him, to inspiring millions.

…that might be the biggest and best turnaround ever!

Source: The Dodo

The post Vet Says Cat With Severe Burns Should Be Put Down, But Rescuers Spot Something He Doesn’t appeared first on Addicting Stories.

Worse, why would they do it in such extreme temperatures, knowing the poor pups probably wouldn’t live long?

These were questions RSPCA inspector Mel Fisher had to ask herself when she got a call about a bunch of abandoned pups.

She arrived to find them all huddled in a trash bin next to a van; they were all different ages and breeds.

But they weren’t acting like puppies, and for one terrible reason:

The post Evil Owner Dumps Nine Puppies In A Trash Bin – His Dark Motive Infuriates Rescuers appeared first on Addicting Stories.

Rescuer Meghan Sorbara had seen plenty of cats in terrible condition but this one was especially heartbreaking, because the adorable feline had one nightmarish sign:

Purple paws.

What did this mean?

Well, Meghan alluded to the situation in a Facebook post, saying:

“Being in animal rescue, you hear and read about a lot of terrible things being done to poor innocent animals and then one day, the victim of one of these terrible things shows up at your door.“

She added that even after dealing with “injured, emaciated, neglected, and abused animals,” “this one really got to me.”

And it’s because purple paws meant the poor cat was going to be used in illegal dog fighting!

This horrific “sport” involves two dogs being forced to battle, until one of them either runs off or is killed. It’s vicious and cruel and everyone involved should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

These “events” also cause smaller animals to suffer as well, as the dog owners will toss rabbits, rodents, and yes, even cats and kittens, into the ring to test the dogs’ “bloodlust.”

Sometimes, these animals are adopted at shelters, and that animal thinks he or she is off to lead a happy life.

But no, they descend straight into hell and it’s just an unimaginably terrifying situation.

That’s what this adorable cat had experienced, as Meghan understood: the purple paws is a “color-coding” the dog fight organizers use.

Worse yet, the cat may have been stolen from a happy home and forced into this life of despair and fear. However, he had managed to escape … but how?

“Somebody must have left a door open.

Or maybe he got away during transport while they’re going wherever they go to have these fights in the middle of the night, or when they are picking up a new litter of fighting puppies.”

Well, however it had happened, he’d escaped in the nick of time!

And after Meghan contacted the local authorities in the hopes they’d find the dog-fighting perpetrators, she focused entirely on Mr. Purple Paws.

Everyone at the NCA loved the friendly kitty, and Meghan says “he doesn’t have a care in the world; he’s Mr. Happy.”

And just one short week after arriving at the shelter, Mr. Purple Paws got a new adoptive dad! This time, he’d be sure to go to a loving home.

Dog fighting destroys so many lives, and other species are affected as well. No animal deserves to suffer this way, but at least kind-hearted souls can save a few…

Mr. Purple Paws definitely found his kind-hearted savior!

Source: Honest to Paws

The post Cat Arrives At Shelter With Paws Dyed Purple – Rescuer Takes One Look And Calls The Police appeared first on Addicting Stories.

It was from the police, and four tiny puppies were in need of immediate assistance!

The police had responded to a domestic violence call and that’s where they discovered the suffering pups, and they appeared to be covered in a strange substance.

At first, the rescue’s communications director, Tori Fugate, wasn’t sure what it was. Then she got a little closer…

“The officers had been called for a domestic violence incident after a man came into someone’s home and said he was going to hurt puppies who were there.

When they arrived, he had already dumped a jug of latex paint all over the dogs.”

Can you believe that?!

The paint had coated the poor puppies in several layers and their fur was slick and matted; it was so bad, the little tykes could barely move!

Worse yet, there are dangerous chemicals in latex paint, so the team needed to make a drastic decision. Said Fugate:

“There was no safe way to remove the paint without chemicals, so we ended up having to shave them.”

It was really the only option if they wanted to ensure the safety of the frightened puppies.

But in the end, the pups were clean and happy … though they were in fact hairless. And they all got fitting names:

Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Banksy, and Jackson Pollack!

Better yet, the instant this story hit the internet, adoption applications starting flooding into the rescue.

Fugate says their terrifying past is behind them, and the puppies are ready and willing to become wonderful companions:

“They’re just your regular happy and playful puppies now, aside from looking a little more pink since their hair is still so short.”

As for the horrendous person who did this, that perpetrator has been arrested and is facing animal cruelty charges. And rightly so!

Finished Fugate:

“We’ve had animals come in who had been spray-painted or colored with markers, but I’ve never seen anything quite like this.

“We’re finding it so difficult to understand what kind of person would do this.

But we’re so thankful we could be here for them and get them into loving homes.”

We love happy endings!

Source: Pawpulous

The post Four Tiny Puppies Covered In A Strange Substance – Rescuers Feel Their Fur And Stifle A Sob appeared first on Addicting Stories.

Well, some breeds can. Arctic breeds such as Samoyeds, Great Pyrenees, Huskies, Malamutes, etc. have a harsh double coat that acts as insulation for them.

They were bred for generations to withstand cold temps, after all.

But the average domestic dog simply cannot withstand very cold temperatures.

It may seem to have fared all right, then succumb to another issue soon thereafter that most people don’t realize was connected to their exposure.

When temps recently fell to drastic lows, the human deaths it caused made headlines across the country, but not quite so greatly publicized were the pet deaths it caused.

A few horrifying examples:

A pet owner in Hartford, Connecticut, was arrested and charged with animal cruelty after police say a young pit bull chained outside her home was found “frozen solid,” the Hartford Courant reports.

Police said the deceased dog was malnourished and covered in feces. …just a nightmare.

Detroit Dog Rescue announced it was searching for a man who had abandoned a Pomeranian mix in a cage in front of the Michigan nonprofit’s facility at night when the shelter was closed.

The poor dog did not survive the night. Temperatures were so cold that fleas stuck to the dog’s body, according to ClickOnDetroit.

And it just keeps getting worse for our furry four-legged friends…

The Washington Post notes that at least four similar dog deaths occurred in Ohio over the past couple of weeks.

Animal welfare organizations are also seeing a significant rise in reports of animal cruelty, too.

Detroit Dog Rescue said on Facebook Tuesday that over a period of three days, it had received more than 600 calls, emails and online messages about dogs in distress.

It is indeed heartwarming to know that someone cares. But how distressing to know how little the animals owners care!

How could you leave your pets to die a horrible death, while you are warm and cozy inside, worried about nothing other than a possible rise in utility costs as the temperature drops?

New Orleans station Fox 8 reported Tuesday that the Louisiana SPCA’s phones were “ringing off the hook” with reports of pets left outside in the cold.

Indianapolis Animal Care Services said that it had received 264 calls about animals in the cold over New Year’s weekend alone and that the calls have continued to pour in, leading to response times that can be longer than a day.

Sad pointer dog in snow posing

Though many dogs enjoy playing in the snow and you may believe they don’t mind the cold, animal welfare groups note generally that if it’s too cold for you outside, it’s too cold for your pet.

If dogs or cats are remaining outdoors for more than walks and bathroom breaks, Best Friends Animal Society notes that they need warm, insulated dog houses that are raised up off the ground and always have dry bedding.

And if you care for outdoor cats who can’t be brought inside — like a feral cat colony — Alley Cat Allies has tips on creating winter shelters that can help keep them warm and safe.

Source: Huffington Post

The post Dogs Are ‘Freezing Solid’ in Frigid Temps And Rescuers Desperately Need Your Help appeared first on Addicting Stories.

But, it’s also a job that all of us depend on. Without them, our world would soon be covered with garbage…as many cities have discovered when sanitation workers have gone on strike!

It’s an honorable profession and one that requires a lot of patience and dedication.

Sometimes, besides the heroic job they do every day of whisking our unwanted garbage out of sight and out of mind, they get to be heroes in another way.

A sanitation worker in Florida recently got a surprise when he tossed a sealed garbage bag onto his truck, and heard a faint cry coming from within it.

Startled, he grabbed the bag and opened it. Inside, he found…

…another garbage bag. This one completely sealed. When he opened the second bag, he discovered to his great surprise and dismay…

…a tiny, 4-week-old puppy!

“Whoever left her there obviously meant for her to die because she was going to suffocate being inside the other bag that was completely sealed,” Jessie Pena, vice president of Redland Rock Pit Abandoned Dogs Project in Miami, told The Dodo.

“I don’t think it was that long because she was still alive, and she was crying and making noises.”

After pulling the puppy out of the bag and making sure it was breathing, the sanitation worker started calling different rescue organizations to get help for the puppy.

As it turned out, Redland Rock Pit Abandoned Dogs Project was the group that responded — and Pena herself went to get the puppy as quickly as she could.

Oxygen deprivation can do a lot of damage, so naturally, they were very concerned that the puppy could have suffered brain damage from being taped inside an airtight bag.

Amazingly, the puppy showed no signs of damage from her ordeal.

There was a bit of swelling around the head, though, so they rushed her to a veterinarian to be sure the damage wasn’t serious or life-threatening.

The puppy was so tiny and weak that there was serious doubt that she could make it, even without any health issues…

“We took her to the emergency vet, and she confirmed that she does have a complete fracture,” Pena said.

“She wasn’t able to eat, she wasn’t able to walk, she wasn’t able to do anything when we first brought her in.”

Besides the potential health issues and her terrible trauma, the puppy was far too young to have been taken away from her mother.

That alone could have put her into shock and killed her.

Yet the puppy, whom Pena named Merry since she was found just before the Christmas holidays, responded well to medical treatment.

“She’s made a significant improvement,” Pena said. “The swelling has gone down about 80 percent. She’s now eating on her own.

She is walking in her bed, but she’s not able to walk away from her bed — she doesn’t have that much energy.”

And she’s learning how to be at least a somewhat normal puppy again.

Despite everything she’d been through, Merry is slowly learning to trust people.

“The vet was saying that she’s very sweet, and she just wants to be cuddled,” Pena said.

“She is recognizing the people who care for her. She is rolling on her back and trying to play like a puppy.”

Source: The Dodo

The post He’s About To Toss A Sealed Trash Bag Into His Garbage Truck, When He Hears A Tiny Cry… appeared first on Addicting Stories.

No thought is given to the fact that dogs are social creatures that require daily care besides food, water and shelter.

These filthy mills usually house dogs in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions without adequate veterinary care, food, water and little to no socialization.

Most veterinarians suggest breeding a female dog no more often than 24 months in most cases.

But, in order to maximize profits, female dogs in puppy mills are bred at every opportunity (usually twice a year) with little-to-no recovery time between litters.

The life of a puppy mill breeding dog is a indeed a very sad one, and one Pennsylvania vet knows this better than anyone.

He sees the end results more often than people in other areas because so many Amish and Mennonite farmers near him own puppy mills.

One dog that stands out in his memory is a boxer named Tracy. When Tracy’s owner brought her into his clinic, she was emaciated, sick and extremely weak.

Tracy just barely clung to life — and whenever she tried to walk, she nearly fell over.

But she wasn’t brought to the clinic because she was so sick and pitiful. No, the owner wanted to find out why she’d stopped getting pregnant!

He didn’t care that she was miserable. He only cared that she didn’t get pregnant after she was bred, and therefore wouldn’t be bringing in any money.

“He asked the vet if they could fix her up enough to be bred again, and if they couldn’t, the only thing he’d pay for was to have her euthanized,” Dawn Karam, president of Adopt A Boxer Rescue, told The Dodo.

“Greed is an awful thing and this is all it was.”

The cold-hearted owner wouldn’t pay for anything besides euthanization and that was the bottom line.

But the vet knew Tracy needed more help so after the owner left (thinking the dog would be put down), the vet called Adopt a Boxer, which offered to cover any treatment costs.

The post Owner Says To Vet, ‘Kill My Dog.’ Vet Agrees, But Seconds Later… appeared first on Addicting Stories.

If you live in one of many U.S. regions where frigid temperatures are common and snow, sleet and ice are inevitable, you know what to expect.

But here’s a new warning if you’re a pet owner:

Don’t leave your poor pet outside in the freezing cold for too long. Because if you do, the police may come knocking at your door.

An extension of Pennsylvania’s Libre Law has animal lovers everywhere cheering:

If animals are left outside for more than 30 minutes in freezing temperatures, the owners will face punishment.

Possible penalties include fines – all the way up to $750 – and even up to 90 days in prison for minor offenses.

For more serious cases, where the animal has been neglected or abused, the fines rise steeply (up to $15,000) and jail time could be as long as 7 years.

That’s because the latter is now seen as a third-degree felony in the eyes of Pennsylvania law, so you better take this news seriously.

Kristen Tullo, director of the Pennsylvania branch of the Humane Society of the United States, has seen enough animal cruelty to last a lifetime, and as she told WHTM News:

“There have been animals that are actually frozen to the ground.

The animals are coming in because of damage to their paws and because of bleeding paws and because of frostbite, hypothermia, and even death in situations.”

Pet owners, especially dog owners, should take some precautions when the temperature gauge plummets.

Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter communications director Jennifer Vanderau has some suggestions:

“Your doghouse that you have should keep them dry. If it rains and that freezes, that’s awful.

Please make sure that they can get out of the elements and they can get into the dog house and not actually be rained on. Have it raised off the ground if you can.”

Vanderau says the shelter’s cruelty officer gets calls every winter about poor animals left outside in frigid weather, which is why the state passed this new portion of the Libre Law.

Tullo added that it’s a “monumental change for those dogs that were just left out tied to a tree basically a lawn ornament at that point.”

Pennsylvania residents can contact their county humane officer if they see dogs left outside in dangerous temperatures. If your county doesn’t have a humane officer, please call the local or state police.

Sometimes, the law has to protect our furry friends from negligent people.

No animal should ever have to freeze to death!

Source: WHTM News (ABC)

The post If You Leave Your Pet Outside To Freeze This Winter, The Cops Have Just 1 Message For You appeared first on Addicting Stories.