Early one morning Dawn Knight was at the local cemetery when a dog walked right out in front of her.  He did not acknowledge her; something was off, she just knew it.  He walked right down the middle of the street and Dawn followed him in her car so that he would not be hit while on the road.  Eventually he went into a yard riddled with no trespassing signs and laid down in a small hole of dirt.  Concerned, Dawn phoned the local Animal Control and asked for assistance.

She stayed to keep an eye on the dog for approximately thirty minutes until Animal Control arrived, and once they did she and the officer discovered that the dog was severely injured.  With obvious trauma across his head and neck, and with maggots infesting the wounds, the Animal Control Officer assessed him and came to the conclusion that he had likely been the victim of a dogfight.  Knowing his fate was grim if she did not intervene and unsure of whether he would live or die before being transported, Dawn asked for assistance in getting the dog to Easterling Vet Clinic so that he could receive medical attention.

While being cleaned up on arrival at Dr. Easterling’s clinic, they discovered that his neck, face and ears had been multilated.  His chances of survival were a mere 35% but Dr. Easterling said that if he was still there by morning his chances would increase to 75%.  Dawn was there the next day when the doors opened and much to her relief, he was still alive.  She named him Rufus.

Later that evening he drank a small amount of water and by the next day he showed even more progress by eating a few bites of dog food.  Days turned into weeks as Rufus endured two reconstructive ear surgeries and his health slowly returned.  Dawn never thought she would end up keeping him and assumed she would help find him a good home, but as time grew near for him to leave the clinic she knew Rufus now held a special place in  her heart. Rufus adapted well to the Knight family’s other furry members and as they say: the rest was history.

Rufus, the once pitiful and mangled dog, became the face for Rufus Refuge and has since brought about so much change to other unfortunate animals.