Elderly Dogue de Bordeaux Found Buried Alive Is Rescued By Dog Walker

Pedro Dinis was out for a walk with a friend and his dog for what they thought was going to be a casual stroll but ended up being in the right place at the right time to save a life. They had almost finished their walk when they found a dog cruelly buried alive!  Only her head was barely visible in the mound of dirt.

The Dogue de Bordeaux (French Mastiff) was in terrible condition.

Pedro immediately began to dig her out and found that not only was she buried in the earth but she was also tied down with a rope to prevent her from escaping.

The rope was weighed down with a bag of gravel.

Pedro managed to free her. At one point he was assisted by his dog.

He immediately gave her water as she was severely dehydrated and weak and she was taken to the veterinarian and treated.

Meanwhile, authorities tracked down the dog’s owner through the dog’s tattoo. According to Le Parisian, the dog’s owner claimed that the dog had run away. But considering the dog is around 10 years old and has arthritis, investigators did not believe the man’s story and charged him with animal cruelty.

Charges for animal cruelty in France can carry up to two years in prison or fines of over $30,000. An online petition calling for the ‘maximum sentence for the owner’ had received 315,000+ signatures.

As for the dog’s savior, Pedro he says he shared the photos of her rescue to raise awareness about animal cruelty. Since her rescue, the dog has been named Athena and taken in by the animal rescue, SOS Dogue De Bordeaux.

In the months since her rescue, Athena has found comfort, happiness and a permanent home with Mr. and Mrs. Delfosse, the founders of the rescue, although it will not be official until after the court case is completed in Spring 2016.

For now though, Athena is enjoying life with her new family. In the video below, she’s enjoying a walk in the sunshine!

She has also been visited by her rescuer, Pedro!

Thank goodness Pedro found her and saved her.

Update: Spring 2016

Justice is served! The Frenchman who buried Athena alive has been sentenced to jail. The man claimed that he was never cruel to his pet, but the judge didn’t believe him given that the man had claimed that the dog ran away during a walk one night. He has been banned from owning a dog for 5 years, fined and given an 8-month suspended prison sentence.

Athena passed away peacefully early in 2016 under the loving care of her adopted family.

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