By Jessica Hice
The Sacramento Bee
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Chunk, a dog who was rescued after being found tied up and abandoned in October, was permanently adopted by Sacramento firefighter Mike Thawley on Friday morning at the Front Street Animal Shelter.
Chunk was nearly hairless with scabby, swollen legs, and was shivering in the cold rain near 12th and North B streets on Oct. 16 when Thawley and the Sacramento Fire Department Engine No. 14 crew drove by en route to a job.
The crew doubled back after their job was done to help Chunk. Back at the fire station, Chunk was bathed and cared for before taken to the Front Street Animal Shelter in Sacramento.
Thawley, his wife Carla, and three daughters, decided unanimously to foster Chunk during her rounds of treatment for a noncontagious form of mange and permanently adopt her afterward.
“We all just kind of fell in love with her,” Thawley said.
Friday morning, Thawley, with a rambuctious Chunk in tow, signed adoption papers at the shelter after Chunk’s final rounds of treatment for a noncontagious form of mange.
Thawley said the family knew from the start of her foster care that Chunk was part of the family. Over the holidays, Chunk was dressed up in Christmas sweaters.
“My wife likes to dress Chunk up,” Thawley said.
Puppy adopted by the firefighter who rescued her! Firefighter Thawley found Chunk tied to a tree in the rain. She had lost almost all her fur to mange, and needed time to heal. Firefighter Thawley convinced his family to foster her, and now that she’s recovered, he’s officially made her a permanent member of the family. Congratulations Chunk! Sacramento Fire Department
Posted by Front Street Animal Shelter - City of Sacramento on Friday, February 3, 2017