A poor pup nearly lost her life to serious chemical burns after her previous owner dyed her hair purple and abandoned her.

But after months of treatment and rehabilitation, the "very loving" white Maltese mix has a new home and is well on the way to recovery.

In a now-viral Facebook post, Pinellas County Animal Services in November told the story of Violet with a series of graphic images hoping to deter pet owners from using human hair products on animals.

"Express yourself, but please do not use hair dye intended for humans to express your pet's style," the Animal Services' Facebook post warned on Tuesday. "Chemicals in hair dye are TOXIC causing a wide array of external injury to your pet - possible burns, blindness and because an animal's first instinct is to lick, it can cause poisoning or internal burns. Just don't."

The post detailed Violet's extensive injuries, including an eye swollen shut and severe chemical burns. She was also described as "limp and listless."

Staff administered fluids and pain medication, bandaged her burns and tried to wash away as much dye as possible. However, they weren't sure she'd make it through the first night, according to the post — but she pulled through.

When staff later tried to shave off the dyed hair to get a better idea of the damage, some of her skin began to "slough off."

"Good thing Violet was peacefully anesthetized. It was so much worse than we initially thought – how would this little dog make it through?!?!" The post read.

Animal Services shelter director Doug Brightwell said "a good Samaritan" found Violet wandering around as a stray and dropped her off at an emergency after-hours clinic in St. Petersburg.

Brightwell said Violet is a unique case as she's been the only one dropped off with these types of injuries stemming from human hair dye. He said he doesn't believe that Violet was maliciously dyed purple and that the owner probably didn't realize the consequences of using human hair product.

"We can only assume because we don't know what actually happened or why they did it," Brightwell said. "It was just something that just went awry, and instead of acting appropriately and rushing her to the veterinarian to get her taken care of, they just left her."

Violet didn't have a license or a microchip with her and wasn't reported lost, so the shelter has no idea of her former owner, Brightwell said. He added the shelter has built a case against the former owner should they ever appear.

"And if we ever get an owner identified who did this, then we will work with law enforcement to try and pursue charges," Brightwell said. "And unfortunately, most times, these people are smart enough to not come forward now, especially knowing what happened."

Violet's three months of recovery was an emotionally exhausting process for staff as they continued to treat her injuries with pain medication, antibiotics, IV fluids, honey treatments, scab removal and bandage changes, according to the post.

"When the final badges came off we breathed a collective sigh of relief – Violet was beautiful," the post read.

And her new owner, David Anderson, a dog groomer with Woofgang Bakery and Grooming in St. Petersburg, said he was grateful to Animal Services staff for going above and beyond in treating her.

"Because if she had been taken to another shelter, I think most likely she would've been just euthanized," said Anderson, a Tennessee native and Dunedin resident. "I am so attached to her because she is the sweetest dog ever, and what they did for her is just amazing and phenomenal."

He added that Violet has been recovering well since he adopted her roughly a month ago. She's still undergoing some skin treatments, but her skin is almost completely healed, he said.

Violet is also getting along well with Anderson's other dogs, Mushu and Sushi, who are both shih tzus.

"She's just very loving and she's very demanding with how she wants attention," he said. "She's really sassy, but she's wonderful. She's a very sweet little girl."