Thankful People: Malnourished pup nursed back to health

Champ dashes around the front desk of the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri like he owns the place.

A chestnut luster has begun to return to the 8-month old Boxer's short coat, with sparse hair growing over the open sores. Regular meals have done their part to add some heft to his still-gaunt frame.

The clear outline of Champ's ribs underneath his coat and the pressure sores are the only indicators that only a few weeks ago, his fate was uncertain as he lay dying on the same floor he now dashes across.

Brandie Peterson, an animal care specialist, had been working Oct. 18, the day Ryan McGuire, Champ's former owner, brought the puppy to the Humane Society.

She remembers standing on the front porch of the facility on the unseasonably cold fall day, seeing an older pickup rattle up the driveway at a good clip.

The driver walked into the lobby with a "little bitty balled-up twitching thing," Peterson said, and it took her a minute to realize it was a dog.

"I said, 'God, what's wrong with that dog?'" Peterson said.

She rushed to scoop the animal up in a towel and asked McGuire when the dog had last been fed. He answered that it had been a couple of days, but the dog hadn't wanted anything to eat.

Peterson realized the dog had been starved to the point where he was too weak to lift his head to eat.

The puppy was malnourished and emaciated to the point that they weren't sure they could save him, said Requi Salter, director of the Humane Society. It was the worst case she'd seen in 17 years working animal abuse cases, she said.

Something about the man and the sorrow she felt at the puppy's appearance struck a chord with Peterson.

"I felt like we just needed to try," Peterson said.

Seven hours and three cans of dog food later, the puppy was able to stand on his own. By the following day, he was wagging his stubby tail and standing on his hind legs in his cage, eager for attention, Peterson said.

She named the dog Champ because she thought he'd have to be a champion to survive his ordeal.

McGuire, 21, of Chaffee, Mo., faces a felony count of animal abuse and torture. Arraignment is set for Jan. 7 in Scott County.

As for Champ, he's now been adopted by a loving family, Salter said, who took a week off from work to help the puppy get accustomed to his new environment.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

388-3635