Pit bull abandoned at park to become service dog

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) – An abandoned dog in Colorado now has a new purpose in life: helping those who served the country. It’s all because of a veteran who refused to ignore him.

Bruno the pit bull hasn’t had it easy.

Late at night, Air Force veteran Carl Anderson saw a car drop Bruno off in the park across from his house.

“I couldn’t believe someone would just come up to a park and push their dog out of a car and leave him,” he said.

Come morning, Bruno was still in the same spot, so Anderson went and checked on him.

“He was pretty confused and scared at the time,” he said.

After calling authorities and giving them a description of the car, officers were able to track down the owners and charge them with cruelty to animals, a criminal misdemeanor.

The criminal case meant Bruno was sent to the shelter at the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak region.

“They do great things,” Anderson said. “They do the best they can but there’s just so much out there, they can’t save every dog. And he wasn’t doing real well in the kennels there.

With a little help, Bruno was transferred to a local rescue. Now, he’s back by Anderson’s side.

“My family’s already falling in love with him, so it won’t be easy passing him on,” Anderson said.

Anderson and his family are fostering Bruno while he gets ready to join the non-profit Victory Service Dogs, which trains dogs to become service animals and pairing them with a veteran who needs one.

“From whatever life he left behind unwillingly to helping make someone else’s life better,” Anderson said.

It’ll be a new leash on life for Bruno, as he lays on the porch instead of being left in the park.

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