Virginia Puppy Survives Horrific Stabbing, Finds A Forever Home With The Man Who Saved Her Life

After nearly dying at the hands of his former owner, a Virginia puppy is safe in the home of the man who saved his life.

“Smoke is one of the most affectionate dogs I have ever met,” said Brad Chambers. WTKRChelsea Donovan of Chelsea as she played with the lucky puppy in her yard in Virginia Beach this week.

It's hard to believe that not long ago, the young pit bull mix was on death's door.

On May 18, Chambers and his landscaping crew were stuck in traffic in downtown Portsmouth when he saw a “small and weak” dog running under his truck.

“When I looked under the car, she looked like a cute puppy,” he recalled to Donovan, who has been covering Smoke's story since the beginning.

But when Chambers looked closer, he was shocked.

“All you could see was blood flowing everywhere and puncture wounds,” he said. “I called my employees to get towels and quickly get my trauma kit.”

Chambers, a former police officer, told Donovan he used the kit to stop bleeding from the stab wounds that pierced the puppy's jugular vein and carotid artery. He didn't realize it at the time, but he applied the gauze and the quick clot just in time to save her life.

Courtesy of Brad Chambers

Fire and rescue crews responded and took the dog to a vet in Suffolk. Two days later, as her condition deteriorated, she was transported to the intensive care unit at the North Carolina State Veterinary Hospital.

“She got really sick after that. Air was leaking out of her chest cavity and into her lungs and her heart,” Chambers told the local news channel.

Miraculously, Smoke survived, although the treatments that saved his life cost a whopping $15,000, a bill that was ultimately covered by a herculean fundraising effort that brought in nearly $30,000. (The surplus is donated to charity.)

Then, on May 25, a week after crawling under Chambers' truck, Smoke returned home with him and his fiancée.

Courtesy of Brad Chambers

“I'm pretty emotionally invested in the dog, and I have the family to give him and the compassion that allows him to live a fulfilling life,” he said. WTKR.

Incredibly, Smoke has no lingering effects from the seven stab wounds she suffered, and she's also on her way to becoming a certified therapy dog. The police reportedly filed a complaint for animal cruelty against its former owner.

Courtesy of Brad Chambers

“We will now take additional steps to ensure her safety and health, and I will be able to spend the next season of my life with her, and there are so many memories to make,” Chambers said.

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