Twelve years ago at a local convenience store, an employee was carrying a load of boxes out to the dumpster and happened to notice a toy pet carrier sitting inside.

Looking into the carrier, the employee was shocked to find a tiny Jack Russell Terrier puppy, teetering on the brink of death after apparently having been victim to multiple acts of sadistic abuse by an unknown person who had clearly left the puppy in the dumpster to die.

The 7-week-old dog was dehydrated, semi-conscious, covered in spots of blue spray paint and had suffered a multitude of puncture wounds that Pueblo Animal Services representatives theorized were caused by cigarette burns.

Once the puppy was saved from the dumpster by the store employee, he was eventually transported to PAS to receive emergency medical care, where shelter staff named him "Trooper" in light of his survival spirit.

The abandonment and torture that Trooper endured sparked an outpouring of support from the Pueblo community. Almost $9,000 was raised to pay for Trooper's medical expenses and to offer a cash reward for anyone who could provide information about his abusers.

Trooper's tormentors were never caught, but after a litany of medical procedures, including two blood transfusions, Trooper eventually made a near-full recovery, prompting hundreds of people to volunteer to give him a new, forever home.

Of the more than 150 families who submitted essays to PAS to state their claim as to why they would be the best family for Trooper, the one that was chosen was that of Steve and Lynn Manente, who, coincidentally, had lost their own beloved Jack Russell Terrier, Aerie, only eight months before.

Still reeling from the loss of Aerie, Lynn Manente said that prior to seeing Trooper in the news, she hadn't even considered adopting another dog.

"We saw the news that was featuring Trooper and what had happened to him and they had said that they thought he was a Jack Russell puppy," Lynn Manente recalled.

"So I saw the puppy and heard the story and I said, 'That's going to be my dog.'

"And that was the first time I really wanted to pursue getting another dog because we were so attached to Aerie and it hurt so much. But when I saw what happened to Trooper, it was kind of like I didn't go find him, I felt like he found me."

After getting Trooper home in September 2005, Manente said she was surprised that, despite his abhorrent prior abuse, the puppy was carefree and happy and "acted just like any normal pup."

With the exception of some common apprehensive dog behaviors -- Trooper gets uncomfortable around men and is sometimes nervous when strangers approach the family's vehicle -- Manente said the past 12 years of his life have been filled to the brim with love and no shortage of attention or affection.

"He is a wonderful dog. He is gentle and sweet, and he's such a loving dog, you would never know the trauma and the abuse that he had as a puppy," Lynn Manente said.

Trooper now spends his days enjoying long hikes, walks around the neighborhood, playing with other neighborhood dogs and spending time in the wilderness -- especially near the river in the town of Eagle, where he's lived since 2010.

Lynn Manente said Trooper has become quite the mountain dog and seems happiest when he's running free outdoors. He also loves spending time with his dad in the car and has traveled with the family on numerous road trips to destinations across the country.

The torment inflicted on Trooper in the first weeks of his life could not be more different than the treatment he now receives, as the Manentes self-admit that they consistently spoil their beloved pet.

For instance, shortly after bringing Trooper home, the family found that whenever someone around him would chew gum, Trooper became nervous and began to shake uncontrollably.

As a result, neither Lynn nor Steve Manente has chewed gum in the past 12 years.

Reminiscent of the character Linus in Charles Schulz's "Peanuts," Trooper has an affinity for blankets. He prefers to be covered by blankets when going to sleep and carries his own special blanket -- which the Manentes call his "banky" -- around the house.

Steve Manente said that the full, happy and healthy life that Trooper has enjoyed since being fatefully pulled from that dumpster 12 years ago is a testament to the fact that the money donated to his recovery effort by the Pueblo community was anything but in vain.

"The only thing I want to say is that we just appreciate what the people of Pueblo did to save his life, and we were honored and blessed to be chosen to take him," Steve Manente said.

"I'm sure the other people would have done an equally good job of raising him, but I don't know that he could have had a better life.

"We just took care of him, and he took care of us, so we wanted the folks in Pueblo to know that it was worth it for the money that they spent. And we appreciate it so much that we've been able to spend really good years with him."

zhillstrom@chieftain.com