Tied To A Fire Hydrant And Left To Die — But He Never Stopped Believing In Kindness
During a blistering heatwave in Michigan, a woman walking through a quiet Detroit neighborhood spotted something that stopped her in her tracks.
There, sitting motionless beside a fire hydrant, was a frail dog. His ribs pressed against his thin frame, and his fur was crawling with fleas. But what broke her heart most wasn’t his condition — it was that someone had tied him there and walked away.
“He was so infested with fleas, it was beyond,” said Judie Jones, director at Make a Difference Rescue. “His ribs were showing.”
When a volunteer from the rescue arrived, they approached carefully. So many abandoned dogs shrink back in fear — flinching at every movement, uncertain if another human means more pain.
But this one didn’t. He looked up with soft eyes that seemed to say, “Please, help me.”
“He allowed us to untie him,” Jones said. “He allowed us to put him right in the car … He was very thankful to be rescued.”
At the vet clinic, the 4-year-old dog — soon to be named Buddy — was treated for severe flea infestation, painful skin infections, and dehydration. Despite everything he’d endured, Buddy’s tail never stopped wagging.
“He’s about as sweet as sugar,” Jones said. “His personality is pretty stable for what he’s gone through.”
As Buddy’s rescuers searched for answers, they discovered something heartbreaking: his original owners had given him away for free — and whoever took him had abandoned him without food, water, or shelter.
Sadly, cases like Buddy’s aren’t rare. Jones has seen too many dogs discarded this way. But she’s made it her mission to give each one a moment of joy right after rescue.
“After we go to the vet’s, we always stop at McDonald’s,” she said with a smile. “I’ll tell you what — he loves chicken nuggets.”
Now safe, clean, and well-fed, Buddy is blossoming into the dog he was always meant to be. He loves car rides with the windows down and snuggling close to his rescuers whenever he gets the chance.
“I don’t see any aggression in him,” Jones said. “He is just so cuddly and wonderful.”
Later this week, Buddy will officially be listed for adoption through Make a Difference Rescue. And though his story began tied to a fire hydrant on a hot Detroit street, it will end in a loving home — with humans who will never let go of the leash again.
Because even after all the cruelty he faced, Buddy never stopped believing that someone kind would come for him.