Abandoned pit bull who chewed off own leg finds forever home [Video]

• Bella the pit bull was found entangled in her tether in a yard.
• The dog chewed off one of his legs in an attempt to save herself.
• A postal worker discovered her. 

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Bella the pit bull’s remarkable journey from abandoned canine to cherished adopted pet has come to a happy end.

The once mistreated dog, who chewed off her leg in trying to save herself, went to her new forever home on March 24, according to a news release from Best Friends Animal Society.

Bella’s journey begins in Saginaw Country, Michigan, where a postal worker discovered the pit bull terrier entangled in her tether in a yard without food, water, or shelter. Bella gnawed her back leg at the thigh before being rescued. The starved and underweight dog was released and treated by Saginaw County Animal Care & Control.

Desi Sage, the animal care and control officer who saved Bella, said it was gut-wrenching to see Bella that day when she was rescued in the yard.  

Bella began working on addressing the emotional damage caused by the mistreatment she had undergone after recuperating from her physical injuries at Saginaw County Animal Care & Control. 

To provide the best possible care for the dog, Saginaw County Animal Care & Control put out a call for a rescue that specializes in helping dogs recover from trauma.

After analyzing Bella’s medical and behavioral history, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, the country’s biggest no-kill pet sanctuary, answered the call and decided to accept the pet. Best Friends has a long record of assisting neglected and abused animals, including housing several canines rescued from Michael Vick’s dogfighting business.

On January 15, Sage and her colleague Abbe Balderstone set out with Bella on a three-day, 1,800-mile journey to the Best Friend Animal Society’s sanctuary in Kanab, Utah. Bella’s 1,800-mile road journey was paid for by Saginaw residents Bob and Pat Schust, as well as Zach Webster of Thelen Subaru of the Thelen Auto Group in Bay City. Thelen Subaru provided Bella and her travel partners a car and covered the cost of gas for the trip. 

In February, Kim Diehl and Jason Reding of Rockport, Illinois, went to Best Friends Animal Society’s Utah shelter in the hopes of finding a new companion after the loss of their senior pit bull Roxanne, whom they adopted from the same refuge. Diehl and Reding had read about Bella and were eager to see her.

The couple fell in love with Bella the first time they took her for a walk.

“We brought her to stay with us at the sanctuary’s onsite cottages for a week. She’s so energetic and has such a bubbly personality. We grew to love her even more.” 

Once the couple was permitted to adopt Bella, they traveled to Denver, rented a car, and went to Kanab to pick her up and take her back to Illinois.

Diehl said they intend to spoil Bellan, especially after everything she went through.  

Source: People