Buck

At only seven months old, his eye was left bulging out of the socket after a horrific hit and run. The day was coming to a close in Paraná. As the sun descended, leaving long shadows of light softly illuminating the streets, we beheld a terrifying sight seconds before darkness enveloped the surroundings. Lying limp on the ground in a puddle of his own blood lay a whimpering puppy. His face was mangled beyond belief - this poor boy’s jaw was jutting to the side of his mouth, and one of his eyeballs was hanging by a thread outside of his face. 

When he heard us pull over and hop out of the car, his one-working eye jerked up to meet our gaze, and with what was probably all his might, he pleaded with us for help. Our hearts nearly broke. We shudder to think about how many people passed him by, knowing full well that he was in DIRE need of medical attention. We immediately touched this sweet boy’s frame, and it was burning up. A fever had taken hold of him as he lay there, his aching body quickly shutting down, unable to fend for himself after a cruel soul hit Buck with their car and then abandoned him there. 

We scooped this poor boy’s body into our arms and rushed him to our dedicated team of medics. Time was of the essence. His body continued to reach higher and higher temperatures as it struggled to pump blood and life into all of the right places. We wondered, as Buck’s bones dug into our laps, how long it had been since he had a bite to eat - his shattered jaw likely made that an excruciating, if not impossible, ordeal. And how could he even search for food out there on the harrowing streets if his eye was causing him death-like agony? As every breath of this poor boy sounded like it may be his last, as delicately as possible - we rushed him to the operating room.

There, vets got to work fixing Buck’s eye and jaw. Doctors had to bring him back to an acceptable level before considering opening him up or operating. They knew immediately that his vision would forever be impaired. 

Then, in mid-November, Buck underwent a crucial surgery. As it turned out, there was more to his harrowing injuries than the bulging eye. The procedure involved the removal of large foreign bodies from Buck's stomach, as well as the removal of his damaged eye. Unfortunately, not all fractures in his skull and jaw could be repaired during this surgery, necessitating another procedure to address the remaining maxillary fracture.

After recovering, Buck geared up for another surgery in early December to mend the remaining fractures in his maxilla and nasal regions. Ahead of the procedure, he had to remain in the hospital for 24/7 monitoring. Our faith waivered at this point as we worried what was going to come of this gentle guy. We eagerly awaited the day when he would finally be able to run and play freely like any other pup his age. 

Then, things started to look up. His progress was heartened. He really had such a strong will to survive and thrive! It was clear he was eager for life to begin. He started eating dry food, a super positive step toward gaining the weight he needed. After several post-op check-ins, it seemed that miraculously and with the help of our talented vets, his facial fractures had healed completely! 

We immediately set him up with one of our amazing foster families and started watching Buck blossom into a silly, happy young guy. By the end of January, his only reason to return to the vet was for vaccine updates like any other pup! He was thriving despite the trauma he had endured in his past. 

Another month went by like this until finally, on March 6th, we got the news. BUCK WAS GOING TO BE ADOPTED. We had worked tirelessly to find the perfect family for him and, alongside our dedicated foster family, had ensured that he had the most hands-on upbringing to help pull him out of the trauma he had gone through. It WORKED. This boy is all around a perfect dog. He loves to play with other dogs and has completely come out of his shell in his forever family. He loves people, too, and even gets along with his TWO kitty siblings! 

Buck is amazing on a leash and such a good listener. We are SO super proud of our little angel, and while we are sad to part with him, we are ecstatic that he gets a new lease on life.

Undoubtedly, he will live a long and happy life with his new family, who absolutely adore him!  Buck deserves all the love in the world, and we are so thrilled that he found his perfect family!! 🙌Thank you to everyone who helped Buck, including our amazing animal-loving community and CUDDLY!! Adoptions like his make everything worth it! ❤️