Featured Image Credit: East2West
A dog that was given a ‘lethal injection’ before being buried alive by his owners managed to dig himself out of the grave and walk to a road, where he was able to get help.
The seven-year-old German shepherd, named Kiryusha, was seen by motorist Olga Lystseva, 39, while she was out driving in southern Russia.
Olga passed the pooch who was slowly walking in the rain, wet through and exhausted following his ordeal.
Dog-lover Olga decided to turn her car around, and drove back around nine miles to stop and pick up poor Kiryusha from the roadside.
She settled the dog on the back seat of her car and got some food for him before driving almost 100 miles to the city of Ukhta to hand him over to a dog rescue centre called Kind City.
The shelter shared photos of the dog online to appeal for information and received responses to say he had come from Yemva.
When the owners were eventually tracked down, they said they had ‘put down’ the dog and claimed he was ‘unhealthy’.
They confessed that they had injected the dog with a drug that was intended to kill him before burying him in a remote spot in a forest near the Ukhta-Syktyvkar highway where he was found.
According to the shelter, the owners apologised for their ‘mistake’ that led to him being buried alive.
Kiryusha’s paw still had a shaved patch where the owners had administered the injection.
Thankfully, after being checked over by vets, Kiryusha has no serious medical problems and, other than being hungry and cold, is in good health despite what he’s been through.
Ekaterina Nimak, from the rescue service, said: “Thanks to Olga, Kiryusha has begun a new life.
“In the shelter, he is very calm. He walks on a leash, does not rush anywhere, rarely conflicts with other dogs and does not bark.
“He is good-natured with people.”
According to a report on local TV, the pooch has now been fostered by a local family and is getting all the love and care he needs.