A pit bull recovers from intense surgery after rescuers found her with a metal chain wrapped around her neck.
Roxanne, an adorable 18-month-old pit bull, was hours from death when she was found wandering around the streets of Columbia, South Carolina.
As soon as police officers saw the poor pup, they couldn’t believe what was wrapped around her neck as they rescued her – a 6.3 pound metal chain that caused severe swelling to her face.
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Rescuers suspected someone may have freed Roxanne but had no idea how long she had been walking around or who wrapped the painful chain around her.
The pit bull needed immediate medical attention as she was just hours from dying.
South Carolina’s animal shelter, Pawmetto Lifeline, requested help from Rescue Dogs Rock NYC, a dedicated rescue program, to save the pup’s life.
The bulky chain made up more than 10 percent of the pup’s body weight and dug deeply into her skin.
And because of the swelling, the chain could not be slipped over the dog’s face.
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“This was one of the worst embedded collar cases we’ve ever seen, and we’ve seen many,” Stacey Silverstein, co-founder of Rescue Dogs Rock NYC, told InsideEdition.com.
Instead, doctors began to break the chain with bolt cutters. Once the skin became visible enough to operate, the doctors noticed that one of Roxanne’s major arteries had become exposed.
95% of the pup’s skin around her neck was damaged by the chain’s intense grip.
After countless hours of surgery, the brave pit bull pulled through and miraculously survived the life-threatening ordeal.
"We were shocked she survived," Jackie O’Sullivan, co-founder of Rescue Dogs Rock NYC, told InsideEdition.com. “She is recovering now and doing quite well!”
The brave pit bull is now recovering and waiting for a new forever home.
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