PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — A 5-year-old German Shepherd named Bruce, who had to have both ears surgically removed after enduring years of neglect in Port Charlotte, is thriving in foster care while his former owner is facing an animal cruelty charge.
Watch Fox 4's Alex Orenczuk report on Bruce's comeback story:
Animal Control officers first encountered Bruce in February, after getting an anonymous tip about his condition. According to Emily Graham, with Animal Control, Bruce was emaciated, had lost most of his fur and was covered in infections.
Bruce was surrendered by his owner and immediately taken to a veterinarian. Over the following months, Animal Control staff and the Animal Welfare League of Charlotte County coordinated repeated vet visits, medications and treatments.
“He’s had quite a long journey with several visits, as well as several different medications, ear meds, bath, oral meds, all that kind of stuff,” she told Fox 4.
Despite months of treatment, Bruce’s chronic ear infections didn’t heal and needed to be removed.
“We did have a wonderful veterinarian, Dr. Ferguson, who was able to surgically remove his ear canals, as well as, obviously, the outside of his ears, because they were so severely infected that they were never going to heal,” Graham said.
Since the surgery, Bruce has been fostered through AWL by Lisa Leff, who said she took one look at Bruce and couldn’t walk away.
“I took one look at him and said, ‘How could I not?’” Leff said. “My husband and I have had him since February, and it’s been amazing. He’s nothing but sweet and loving.”
Leff said Bruce was severely underweight and had no fur on his back end when she brought him home. She said she celebrated the day he finally began shedding, because it meant his coat was coming back.
Now, just down a couple of ears, Bruce has made an incredible recovery.
She said despite everything he’s been through, Bruce remains gentle and affectionate.
“He's so sweet, walks next to you and he's very controlled and he waits for you to go out the door,” she said. “He has such good manners that we were like, this dog is too good for us.”
On Monday, Bruce’s former owner, 30-year-old Tina Johnson of Port Charlotte, was arrested and charged with animal cruelty, according to court records.
Tara Zajas, executive director of the Animal Welfare League, said Bruce’s case, though heartbreaking, is part of the organization’s mission.
“This is absolutely nothing new to AWL,” Zajas said. “This is what we do here. We take in every kind of dog, whether they're healthy, whether they need our help. This is our specialty. We find them homes, their forever homes where they’re not going to be in danger.”
Leff said seeing Bruce heal from his injuries, and be given another chance at life has made it all worthwhile.
“The payoff has been to look at him now and just see that he's happy, he's not in pain anymore,” she said. “He's just a happy guy.”
Bruce remains in foster care but is available for adoption through AWL.
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