With metal rod removed from head, abused puppy's recovery amazes doctors

MCMURRAY, Pa. — A playful 10-week-old terrier mix, the subject of animal cruelty, now bounces around as if nothing ever happened to him. At University Veterinary Specialists in McMurray, they just call him "the puppy." Looking at him now, it would be hard to comprehend what he looked like on Friday when he had a metal rod lodged in his head.

"He is a normal puppy," said UVS Chief Veterinary Medical Officer Dimitri Brown. "He is bouncing around."

The progress amazes Brown.

"It is a pretty rare case to have a dog survive this trauma," said Brown.

CT scans show where the 5-inch rod moved through one of the dog's eyes, across his brain and out his other eye.

Brown added, "It was pretty disturbing to look at him."

Shortly after surgery, he looked like a different puppy. His appetite returned and a video posted on Facebook shows, he just could not get enough, and UVS could not get enough of him. Seeing this face and personality makes you think.

"What motivates someone to do that to a 10-week-old puppy that obviously has no defense against something like that?" Brown asked.

A Washington Area Humane Society officer says the puppy's owner did not do this. Someone else did and that person will be charged. We are told the owner did not have the money so he surrendered the puppy.

"It is amazing the amount of support we have gotten from people in Pittsburgh to raise funds to make the surgery possible," said Brown.

And those same people already lined up, wanting to take the puppy home.

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Story originally published on WTAE.com