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'Helpless Creature' Happy To See Sunlight For The First Time

<div><p>I truly believe there is a special place in Hell for people who abuse animals. How can a person look at an animal and what they're going through and not feel any type of remorse for their actions? It blows my mind. </p><p>I'm sure rescuers from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) feel the same way after they raided a home in North Carolina in September, coming across some of the worst conditions they'd ever seen. </p><p>HSUS saw little B.B. in a cramped, filthy cage and couldn't believe their eyes.</p><p>"She was very tiny, and she looked like this helpless creature," Jessica Lauginiger, animal crimes manager at HSUS, said. "I put my hand up to the cage, and she'd come up and sniff a little bit. She was very hesitant for human attention, but she wanted it."</p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/tmg-article_tall-44.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/tmg-article_tall-44_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>The Dodo</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>B.B. was a poodle kept in the basement specifically for breeding, HSUS suspects. She had swollen mammaries, which led the workers to believe she had birthed and nursed several litters the owners sold for a profit. </p><p>Because she was so malnourished and abused, workers couldn't tell how old B.B. was exactly. But they did know she needed help. </p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/tmg-article_tall-45.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/tmg-article_tall-45_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>The Dodo</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p>"I remember how tiny and frail she was in my hands," Lauginiger said. "I pulled her close to my body, and she leaned into me."</p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/tmg-article_tall-46.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/tmg-article_tall-46_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>The Dodo</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>Along with B.B., hundreds of goats, dogs, and cats were rescued from the inhumane conditions and brought to Cabarrus Animal Hospital, where Brenda Tortoreo met B.B.</p><p>"B.B. was in a corner," Tortoreo <a href="https://www.thedodo.com/close-to-home/puppy-mill-mother-rescued" target="_blank">said</a>. "She looked pitiful. She was scared to death. She wouldn't eat, she wouldn't drink and I felt so bad for her. And I said, "˜That's the one I'm going to take home.'"</p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/tmg-article_tall-47.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/tmg-article_tall-47_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>The Dodo</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p>"I put B.B. down on the floor, and she kept going in circles "” not running, but walking," Tortoreo said. "I guess that's all she knew to do. I put her in the living room, and to go into the hallway, she would not cross that border [between rooms]. I have two granddaughters who live with me, so I would put her in one of my granddaughters' rooms, and she was terrified of rugs. She just wanted off the rug."</p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/tmg-article_tall-49.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/tmg-article_tall-49_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>The Dodo</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p>"She never knew what sun was," Tortoreo said. "She didn't know what grass was, and she was terrified of it."</p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/tmg-article_tall-50.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/tmg-article_tall-50_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>The Dodo</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p>"She's got three big baskets of stuffed animals," Tortoreo said. "She takes certain stuffed animals, and she'd bring them to bed, and she would line them up like she was nursing them, and she'd lick them, lick them and lick them. It was just so heartbreaking."</p><p>But now, with the help of her new forever friend, B.B. is learning how to become a regular dog. </p><p>"She runs around the house," Tortoreo said. "She's eating like crazy "” she was originally about 3 and a half pounds, but I think she's maybe about 10 pounds now. She loves the grass now, and she loves playing with the other dogs in the backyard."</p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/tmg-article_tall-51.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/tmg-article_tall-51_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>The Dodo</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>If you would like to make a donation to help animals like B.B., you can do so <a href="https://secure.humanesociety.org/site/Donation2?23665.donation=form1&amp;df_id=23665&amp;s_src=pr_dodo" target="_blank">here</a>. </p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/tmg-article_tall-52.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/tmg-article_tall-52_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>The Dodo</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p></p></div>

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