Rescued from starvation on the streets, a dog’s gentle soul emerges, revealing a heartbreaking history of neglect and a hopeful future

A tick-infested dog found starving on the streets of Texas has made incredible progress in the month and a half since his rescue. Wrangler had only hours left to live when he was picked up by Dizzy Dog Animal Rescue in August.

The 2-year-old Pit bull had been left to fend for himself in the 105 degree summer heat.

When he arrived at the vet, his rescuers were told that he was so severely anemic that if he hadn’t been found “today he would be dead tomorrow.”

Foster mom and rescuer Anissa Valdez shared that she never had to remove so many ticks from a dog. He had hundreds of them and it took her two hours to remove them all. She also gave Wrangler a couple of baths with flea and tick shampoo (plus bravecto) to clean him some more.

His red blood cell count was extremely low as was his immune system. In fact, it was so low that he couldn’t receive vaccines right away. But one positive was that he he was heartworm negative.

Dizzy Dog Animal Rescue wrote on their Facebook page, “Everyone who has met him talks about his gentle soul. Wrangler belonged to someone at some point. We have no idea how anyone could knowingly allow a dog to suffer. But we also aren’t wasting our energy on figuring that out. He is safe and being cared for by our incredible community.”

Wrangler’s spirit began to lift in Anissa’s home.

He began gaining much-needed weight going from 50 pounds to 64 pounds over a month and he was healthy enough to get his vaccines.

It’s now been 45 days after his rescue, and Wrangler has come a long way. He has had a serious “glow up” and is “feeling better every day” which Valdez shared in one of her most recent TikTok videos.