Donating blood can give the gift of life to a critically ill patient, even if that patient is a canine. It all started when Cyrus, a young Pit Bull mix, was taken to a Fort Worth animal shelter with a mangled left leg. The leg was infected and the shelter workers did all they could to clean the wound, but their ministrations were not working to heal the dog.
No one knew what happened to the Pit’s leg, but they knew the infection and damage was risking the two-year-old dog’s life. As CBS DFW reported, the shelter made the decision to amputate Cyrus’ leg in order to save him. During surgery, the Pit Bull would need a blood transfusion and that is where Rocker stepped up.
Rocker is a younger, bigger Pit Bull mix who was at the shelter. Surprisingly, the one-year-old Pit Bull didn’t need to be sedated when he gave the donation, but he sat perfectly still during the entire procedure as if he knew the importance of his role. Fortunately, it didn’t take long to figure out if Cyrus had benefited from Rocker’s blood.
Sandy Shelby, the superintendent of the Chuck Silcox Animal Shelter in Fort Worth, said Cyrus bounced back quickly.
“Getting that fresh blood was like giving him life, literally. The next day we saw a transformation that is hard to put into words. Cyrus came back to life the next day — he was happy and wagging his tail.”
As reported by the Star-Telegram , the two dogs met each other the day after Cyrus’ surgery and were instant buddies, according to Shelby.
“It was almost like they knew they were connected in some way. They started licking each other in the face, and they had never even met before. It was just so sweet.”
Both of the dogs are still in the shelter, but applications are being taken to find the “blood brothers” forever homes. The shelter wants to find homes that will meet the dogs’ needs. Rocker still has puppy energy and will need to find someone up to keeping up with him and Cyrus will need a home that will allow him time to recover from his surgery. He will also need time to adapt to being on only three legs instead of four. According to Shelby, the shelter is hoping to make a decision on a new home by this Monday.
“We get so many amazing, beautiful animals and every one of them has a story. But this is really a story that has touched a lot of us. We watched this dog come in and we didn’t even know if he would make it through his first night. To see Cyrus now, starting to learn to walk on three legs and starting to feel better, it really is our Christmas miracle.”
Hopefully, both Cyrus and Rocker can find loving homes like Cane, the Pit Bull with cancer whose story was recently reported about by the Inquisitr .
[Image from Charles Silcox Animal Shelter]