Starving Pit Bull Left to Die on Streets, Pulled Through After Being Rescued by Police

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From the archives: This story was last updated in November 2019.

If you are a dog lover, you will likely enjoy reading stories about homeless and sick canines being rescued from the streets and given a new lease of life. A few years ago, a poor pit bull that was left to die on the streets pulled through the most challenging ordeal and survived after she was found by LAPD officers in Los Angeles.

Though the pit bull was on the brink of death in 2015, she had a strong will to live. The dog was named Spirit Golden Heart by her compassionate saviors because of her heart shape on her pelt. Can you see it? “Spirit” means life force, and “golden heart” is “because we knew that she was strong,” they said.

Spirit Golden Heart was left to die on the streets of Los Angeles by some cruel humans in 2015. Weighing merely 26 pounds (approx. 12 kg), the pit bull was dying from starvation and disease.

“So many people walked by her. The vet when she saw her said she was practically dead, but people just walked by,” Alicia Featherstone, a volunteer for Ghetto Rescue FFoundation (GRFF), told ABC 7.

For several days, neighborhood kids attempted to feed Spirit Golden Heart. Eventually, they waved down an LAPD police officer. To save the pit bull, the officer contacted Ghetto Rescue.

“When you look at her, as emaciated as she is and how much she’s hurting and how hungry she is, she is still so sweet. She looks up at you with those eyes and you know she wants to fight,” Featherstone said.

Spirit Golden Heart’s heartbreaking story touched a local VCA Animal Hospital, which waived much of her medical fees.

Dr. Mark Hiebert, medical director for VCA Animal Hospital, said: “She started to rebound initially and she’s taken some steps backward. We just want to help her out.”

At the animal hospital, Spirit Golden Heart was diagnosed with polyarthritis, a painful autoimmune condition where five or more joints ache simultaneously. “She was hours away from death with large fat ticks feeding off her starving body and maggots thriving in open wounds,” Ghetto Rescue FFoundation (GRFF) wrote on their website.

Then came the long road to recovery, and vets helped her to fight for her life. Slowly, Spirit Golden Heart regained the will to live. Vets remarked that they had never seen a dog like this before, who, being on the brink of death, clawed her way back to life.

The pit bull had to undergo blood transfusions and receive vast amounts of IV fluids. Her red blood count rose and she stabilized eventually. She also gained 5 pounds (approx. 2 kg) of weight.

On the GRFF Facebook page, people’s support and prayers for Spirit Golden Heart poured in. One comment reads: “I want to hug her forever and kiss her sweet face. I do not understand how anyone could have just walked past her in the condition she is in, in that heartbreaking first photo.”

Throughout the long days and nights, Spirit Golden Heart was constantly being given love and petted. Love conquers all. Together with the vets and everybody concerned, she pulled through her most challenging ordeal.

The last update prior to her finding a foster home, Spirit Golden Heart weighed 46 pounds (approx. 21 kg), had great blood results, and was coming off from steroids and was wagging her tail.

Spirit Golden Heart found a loving foster owner and a home where she is treated with respect and love. Her foster mom says she is a “chubby couch potato.”

“She is a Notre Dame fan. She loves people, she loves kids, she is good indoors and likes to be outside too! She has a funny personality,” GRFF wrote in a Facebook post.

She made it! Well done, Spirit Golden Heart—you are a star and an inspiration.

Watch Spirit Golden Heart’s remarkable story: