When faced with hardships and extremely difficult life conditions, giving up should never be an option. In those critical moments between giving up and deciding to fight for your life, having an extraordinary will to survive is crucial.
The following story takes us to Washington, D.C., and it teaches us a valuable lesson on the importance of never giving up.
Meet Tig, a Pittie who was left all alone in a gutter to die. Just seeing his protruding bones and the way he was lying on his belly with his paws stretched out shatters my heart into pieces.
Luckily, somebody saw him and called the Humane Rescue Alliance. Chris Schindler immediately came to the scene.
Race Against Time To Save His Life
“At first sight, you wouldn’t even have thought that he was still living. I just couldn’t believe that we were able to get there in time because this dog didn’t have much time left. He had minutes,” says Chris, who immediately rushed him to the animal emergency hospital.
He was so weak and emaciated that he didn’t have any strength either to stand up or to walk. Seeing him like that, you might think he had given up, but that was actually never an option for this courageous pooch.
His tail wag was his desperate cry for help and a clear sign that despite the miserable condition he was in, he just wasn’t giving up on his life or the world that had let him down so far.
After the vets weighed him in at only 15 pounds, it was clear that he was 20 to 30 pounds underweight, meaning that he had been hungry for weeks.
The Road To Recovery
Having stayed at the hospital for three days, Tig was released to an experienced foster, Kim O’Keefe, who, alongside her husband, nursed him back to health.
On his first day in the foster home, he was still a sad, weak puppy whose imploring eyes told Kim everything she needed to know. He was putting his trust in them and was going to make an effort to get better.
As days went by, Tig started to regain his strength, and he could walk a little bit on his own.
Kim rejoiced at seeing him play with their Rottweiler… Tig’s new friend. Soon, Tig could even keep up with him during their walks around the block.
After one month passed, he didn’t even look like the same puppy found by the gutter. Tig’s transformation was evident. He was a healthy and happy looking puppy whose coat was looking much better.
Finding His Forever Home
Having completely recovered, Tig was ready to start his new life in Washington, D.C. and move in with his forever family. His foster mom, Kim, approached Megan, who often comes to the tattoo shop where Kim works at, about adopting him.
They instantly bonded with each other. “You could just see in his face that he needed a loving home, and he had me hooked ever since then,” Megan says.
She’s sure that the moment he came to their house, Tig knew that this was going to be his home.
Although he had been through so much suffering, he never lost hope and trust in people. It hurts to think of the abuse he endured in the hands of some heartless people who left him to die in the gutter.
He could despise mankind and close his heart to love, but he didn’t. He did quite the opposite, opening his big puppy heart to love and showing his family and the world how much love he has to give.
Tig receives a lot of love on social media, too, and more than 4K people follow his daily adventures on his Instagram account.
It has been a couple of years since Tig was welcomed to the family. His happiness is even greater because now he has a hooman sister who became his best friend. In his free time, he loves babysitting her, and enjoying sunbathing and snuggling with his dog sister, Annie.
You can watch Tig’s extraordinary transformation into the happiest dog in the whole world here.