ohmidog!

Here’s the story of Slim, as documented by Jenn Aldridge, the human who, with help, gave the one-time fighting dog from Georgia a happy home in San Diego.

Like many a sheltered dog in need of help, Slim ended up on Facebook, along with a report that indicated his days were numbered.

Jenn, who had three other pit bulls — all rescues — saw the photo and couldn’t forget it.

“Because there are so many local dogs needing help, normally I would not rescue an out-of-state dog, but I couldn’t get his emaciated picture out of my head,” she told ohmidog!

“Knowing he had no chance because of breed specific legislation in that county of Georgia, I told my best friend we have to go get him and she said, ‘ok, let’s do it !’”

They flew to Georgia last May, but learned he was not healthy enough to fly. Instead, after getting two rescue groups involved — one in California and another in Georgia – they managed to get Slim placed in veterinary boarding care for treatment of his heartworm and another tick borne disease.

“It was all quite complicated,” she said. “We had to get a rescue here get approved by a rescue out there, to pull him on their behalf, if that makes sense. It was down to the last hour getting it all done. I heard about him on a Sunday and by Wednesday, he would have been in the landfill, dead.”

In June, they returned to Georgia and flew Slim home to San Diego.

There, Slim joined Jenn’s other dogs — Kyra, Teddy and Daffodil. Now about  three years old, Slim is 46 pounds, up from the 32 pounds he weighed when she met him.

“I like to share his story because the average person still thinks that a game dog (fighting dog) is vicious to humans …quite the contrary,” said Jenn, who hosts a pit bull meet up group in San Diego that works to improve the image of the breed.

“Their loyalty was exploited and used against them,” she said. “Sadly, only about one of every 800 pit bulls will make it out alive of a shelter in the United States – yet selfish people continue to breed them.”