Andi Davis was out hiking a mountain near her home in Arizona when she spotted something at the top of the trail that stopped her in her tracks.
A thin, motionless Pit Bull, barely clinging to life.
The dog, later named Elijah, was just 2 years old and weighed only 47 pounds. What no one realized in that moment was that he had been shot.
Without hesitation, Andi picked him up in her arms and carried him down the steep mountain herself, an exhausting hour long trek with no help along the way.
At the bottom, her husband and daughter, Jessi, were waiting, and together they rushed Elijah to the Arizona Humane Society for emergency care.
It wasn’t until X-rays were taken that the full truth came out. According to Jessi, veterinarians looking at the images realized the dog had actually been shot, something no one had caught at first because there was no blood at the wound site.
The bullet had entered one side of Elijah’s neck and exited the other, leaving a piece of shrapnel lodged dangerously close to blood vessels that controlled his breathing.
Operating to remove it could have caused even more harm, so doctors made the difficult call to hold off on surgery and simply monitor how he did. “Which we almost thought was a miracle,” Jessi said.
The Davis family already had three dogs at home, including a German Shepherd named Timber who had previously been attacked by two Pit Bulls, an experience that once left the family wary of the breed.
But something about Elijah changed everything.
His behavior evaluation came back that same day rated A+, showing he was gentle and safe with other animals, kids, and people alike.
“It’s the humans that are training pits to be bad, it’s not the dog,” Jessi said. “They’re really amazing dogs, and they are even bred to be nanny dogs.”
What started as a rescue mission turned into something much bigger.
The Davis family couldn’t bring themselves to let Elijah go, and despite already having a full house, they made the decision to adopt him permanently.
He quickly bonded with Jessi, who now proudly tells anyone who will listen just how amazing her new dog really is.
Sometimes the bravest rescues start with simply refusing to walk away.
Have you ever changed your mind about a breed after meeting the right dog?
Source:
1. Reader’s Digest
2. Arizona Humane Society