Dog gets to live 'the life he should have' after previous owners abandoned him for bear bait

Most pet owners try to do everything in their power to love and cherish the pet they have willingly taken responsibility for. But quite a few of them do things that an animal doesn't deserve. A couple rescued and raised a dog that had been left as bear bait by the previous owners. The new owners—who go by @mandy_and_mason on TikTok—made a video message for the previous owners about what they have missed since they left their dog. The story has warmed people's hearts on the internet.

"What you have missed since leaving me chained up as a bear bait," the text overlay of the video read. "I get endless snuggles from my mommy and daddy," the dog's POV said as the dog snuggled with mom in the background. In the next clip, the dog was eating and the people pointed out that the pet was not hungry anymore. "I went to the Christmas light show," the text overlay read. The dog also ran around a snow-covered backyard, looking happy and content with his new surroundings. "Santa brought me my own toys." In the background, the dog playfully snatched a little red plushie from his human hand. The couple also takes the dog for long walks.

"My mom and dad took me to the doctor and they saved my life," the video concluded. The owner captioned the post, "This trend was made for Dorel. So grateful to call him mine." The video received over 1.9 million views and more than 156.3k likes. In an interview with Newsweek, the family explained how they rescued the German Shepherd who had been used as bear bait by a breeder. Amanda Pidruchney and her husband adopted five dogs last year when a breeder reached out to them and told them that an unexpected problem had forced her to shut down her program and hence, the dogs would need a place to go. The couple agreed to take five dogs to help the person.

They had thought they'd enter the German Shepherds in Schutzhund competitions, popular for testing various skills the dogs possess. "Our plans were severely derailed when we arrived at her property only to find dogs that were in horrific condition," the woman told the outlet. She expressed how the dogs bore obvious signs of neglect. The dogs were all dirty and underweight, but Dorel was by far in the worst condition and chained to a corner by himself. It was bear season in an area known for bears and the dog had nothing to protect him. "He didn't have any water and there was no food in sight. His light brown paws were caked with dirt and his coat was coarse and weathered. He sat there hunched over, absolutely petrified, just staring at me."

The couple brought all of them home with some effort and Dorel was able to survive against all odds with the right medical care. Even though things didn't look good for him in the beginning. From then on, "he has lived the life that he always should have." People took to the comments section to appreciate the happy ending to the story. @bearsm0mma wrote, "Please kiss him and tell him he’s the best boy. I need him to know." @col308 commented, "Bear bait! Omg, my heart broke into a million pieces. Thank you, momma, for saving him. He deserves the world." @suemcdonald212 remarked, "People are so cruel thank you for saving him."

You can follow @mandy_and_mason on TikTok for more updates on the story.