Neglected to the Brink of Death, This Bulldog’s Rescue Story Is Almost Unbelievable

A young bulldog is getting a second chance at life after being rescued from a neglectful home in the nick of time.

Petunia, a 2.5-year-old bulldog, was saved from an Indian reservation in San Diego, Calif., by the Helen Woodward Animal Center during one of the organization’s Pets Without Walls visits, according to a release from the animal welfare organization.

A “concerned resident” alerted the Helen Woodward representatives visiting the reservation to Petunia’s “dire condition.” Upon seeing the dog, the rescue team knew they needed to act quickly.

The dog had sustained a serious and deeply infected wound, which the rescue team believes was caused by a surgical cone left on for far too long. After “weeks or even months” of being stuck in the cone, Petunia developed a deep wound from a gauze tie that was “twisted and deeply embedded” into her neck, per Helen Woodward.

Speaking to Petunia’s owners, the team convinced them to surrender the dog so that she could receive the medical assistance she desperately needed.

“Petunia’s cut was deep, all the way through multiple layers of skin down to raw areas – we could see the tendons of her neck, it was close to almost being decapitating,” veterinarian Dr. Olivia Garvey said in the release.

She added, “It was through her skin all the way around, but the deepest and most intrenched parts were the underside of her neck. Bulldogs are a breed with tougher, thicker skin than most dogs, too. I believe that notion sheds even more light on the severity of the injury and extent of neglect.”

“This didn’t happen overnight,” Garvey clarified, saying that it was clearly “neglect” as “medical staff would have told them when to remove the gauze and cone. [The owners] chose not to follow instructions and then waited way too long to seek medical help.”

Petunia’s surgery took “multiple hours,” according to the press release, and Garvey said that they encountered “dirt, infection, and even maggots” around the site.

Thankfully, the procedure was a success. The dog’s skin was stapled back together, and she was sedated so that she could recover without worsening the injuries.

Now that she is “recovering beautifully,” Petunia will be put up for adoption.

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Renee Resko, vice president of development at the Helen Woodward Animal Center, made it clear that Petunia isn’t the only dog in need of care.

“What many people don’t realize is that these reservations, and their thousands of families, are not eligible for San Diego County or city resources, and struggle with the inability to access low cost animal services like spays and neuters, pet vaccinations and assistance with unruly and untrained strays,” she said. “Even worse than that, they have no place to report animal abuse when they witness it.”

Helen Woodward’s Pets Without Walls program helps address these inadequacies by providing low-cost mobile veterinary units, walk-up clinics, and other resources to unhoused, low-income, senior, and underserved pet parents.