A dog who lived with a massive salivary gland tumor for six years has gotten a new lease on life thanks to multiple rescues and a record-breaking operation.
Jake was first spotted by rescuers when he was seen wandering as a stray in the summer of 2022 in rural Texas. Cribs for Canines found him and went door knocking in the neighborhood. It turns out Jake had a family, but they had to be convinced to give him up. According to Long Way Home Adoptables, who took over care of Jake from their “sweet friends at Cribs for Canines,” the group worked every single day for a week to get his owners to surrender him.
Thankfully, the family eventually agreed. Although his former family said they loved him, the many years of neglect had resulted in the dog’s head and neck ballooning out to enormous size.
Jake has been living with a salivary tumor for (according to the owners) SIX YEARS, as they assumed it was the result of a snake bite,” Long Way Home Adoptables posted on Facebook when they got him. “He lived as an indoor dog, is *exceptionally* well behaved, potty trained, good with other dogs, and even knows how to shake.”
Rescuers learned that Jake is a true survivor. Not only had he been living with this massive tumor but he also survived the West Fertilizer Plant Explosion as a puppy.
“We found out that he is actually a survivor of the 2013 West Fertilizer Company ammonium nitrate explosion, where he was the only remaining living puppy in a litter there. Lord, this boy has been THROUGH it,” Long Way Home Adoptables wrote on Facebook.