Most of you may be familiar with Dave Bautista as a professional wrestling champion and Marvel star, but Dave is also a huge dog lover.
In fact, he has rescued several dogs during his lifetime, and has given them the best life any dog could wish for.
Currently, Dave has four rescue Pitbulls that he loves very much.
“I think there’s something in my subconscious that relates to Pitbulls because they’re misunderstood, and I think people judge them by their appearance, which has been my case my whole life,” Dave said recently in an interview with WeRateDogs.
Each of his rescue dogs has its own story, but talking about Penny makes Dave emotional every time. This is Penny’s heartbreaking story – from stray to stardom.
Chained To Destiny
Penny came to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay rescue when she was only three months old. At that point, her name was Sage.
She was brought to the rescue by a good Samaritan who spotted Sage eating garbage at the cemetery (out of all places) on her drive back home.
This little baby was terribly abused by her previous owner, who kept her tethered to a chain.
The neglect and abuse was so harsh that poor little Sage had the metal chain embedded in her neck after wearing it for so long.
When she came to the rescue, she still had the chain hanging from her neck, and she was in immense pain. Sage also suffered from overgrown nails and skin issues.
After vet techs examined her, she was immediately rushed into surgery.
Horrified by Sage’s situation, the HSTB rescue put out a reward of $1,500 for information which would lead to the conviction of the individual(s) responsible for doing these horrible things to Sage.
Sage’s story quickly grabbed the attention of the famous dog lover, so he ended up contributing to the reward.
A Remarkable Rescue Story
Dave Bautista, the famous actor and retired wrestler, shared Sage’s story on his official Instagram account, stating that he would also “personally hand $5,000 cash to the person who gives information leading to the arrest and conviction of the sick person responsible for this.”
Alvarez Injury Law, from Florida, also joined the cause, matching Bautista’s $5,000 reward.
During all this, Sage underwent surgery and was recovering slowly. She was staying with one of the staff members who was fostering her for a few days.
“I was overseas, and by the time I got back, I called to check on her and see if there was any update on whoever abused her,” Dave said. “They said no, so I asked, ‘well, did anybody adopt her?’ and they said no. I asked, ‘can I come down and get her?’, and they said, ‘please, come down and get her!’”
Although Sage’s abusers were never found, at least she ended up in the most loving home ever.
Take a look at the video of Bautista officially announcing the new family member:
From Chains To Rolls-Royce
“So, she came in with a chain embedded in her neck and she left in a Rolls-Royce,” Dave said, finally cracking a smile after telling the horrible story of Penny’s past.
This is probably the best upgrade ever and the best ending we could ever wish for Sage, now known as Penny Lane Bautista.
“She is now Bautista, and she will never be abused again. Not a day or even a second in her life. She is about to live the best puppy life ever,” Dave said.
Penny is truly living her best life with three of her brothers and sisters, all Pitbulls – Ollie, Maggie, and Talulah.
“She deserves nothing but happiness because she is such a sweet girl.”
If you want to learn more about Dave Bautista and his beautiful dogs, take a look at the interview he did with Matt, from WeRateDogs.