WEST OLIVE, Mich. — At just 10 months old a furry friend who was known as "Nubby no name" was found by rescuers with the lower half of his hind leg missing.
"Did he catch it in a trap? Did he get stuck somewhere and chew it off?" asked Jen Self-Aulgur, Executive Director at Harbor Humane Society. "There's just so many scenarios. But when we saw him, Genesee [Animal Shelter] put out a cry for help that they needed medical help with, with him."
Self-Aulgur explained that Genesee Animal Shelter has much more limited resources, and so her team saw this as an opportunity to help.
"Our team immediately just fell in love with this guy's face," she said. "Within twenty-four hours he was on his way to us."
"And I think one of the things, you know, that was remarkable when we all met him was just how sweet he was when we got him," she said.
Nubby hadn't even received any pain meds yet but was already so trusting of the humans in front of him. Little did he know what they would do for him.
Harbor Humane Society is raising money to help the young pup, and also sought out the public's help in finding him a new name.
While "Nubby No Name" is what they called him as a term of endearment, they wanted to give him a better name to represent his strength. So they took to Facebook to get name ideas.
Each name submitted was written onto a tennis ball that was then placed in a basket. The tennis balls were rolled out in front of the pup so that he could pick his new name.
"Nubby," now known as Captain Dan, still has a long road ahead of him for recovery. He'll have two procedures done before going to stay at a foster home to recover. For now, though, he's making more friends at Harbor Humane.
"Just having him out of my house and seeing how trusting and loving he is despite what happened, like it's absolutely amazing," said Ashton Vankoebering, Programs Manager at Harbor Humane. "He has met so many people, makes friends with them right away. He knows no stranger, people still are safe place for him, which is an absolutely incredible thing."
If you would like to help Captain Dan on his road to recovery you can send a donation to Harbor Humane Society through their website here.