Beautiful Rex is just 10 months old and tragically, he has already been through more than any dog should ever be put through in their entire lifetime.

 When we received an email from a lady looking to rehome her XL Bully and we asked her to bring him to our kennels for an assessment with our team, we assumed that this would be a case of an ill thought-out “impulse buy” and that the owner was simply struggling with a big and boisterous young dog. How wrong we were. 

We were utterly shocked and appalled to see an emaciated, totally shut down bag of bones stagger pitifully into our kennels on Tuesday morning (21st March). Rex could barely walk and we knew straight away that this was a severe case of neglect and mistreatment. The worrying bite marks on his body also indicated that he is likely to have been used for baiting or fighting. As you will be able to see from the photos, his ears have been inhumanely cropped as well. 

We took him into our care and gave him a small amount of food, which he literally fell on. We made him a cosy bed in his kennel and arranged an appointment with our vet the next morning. 

Unfortunately, Rex collapsed before his appointment so he was rushed to the vet, where he was treated immediately. We are still unsure exactly what is going on inside this poor baby’s broken body but we took the decision to transfer him to our local animal hospital, where he is receiving round the clock care. 

His stomach is very bloated and as well as chronic vomiting, he has been excreting an alarming amount of blood. We found plastic and string in his vomit, which means that he was so starving that he was eating anything he could find in the absence of food.

The vet is currently unsure whether he is going to pull through but we are hoping and praying that he’ll manage to find some fight and allow us to help him to get better, and one day find him the happy ever after that he deserves more than anything. 

This morning (Thursday 23rd March) he has managed to stand up and drink water by himself. We’re praying that this tiny improvement might mean that he has a chance. There will be further tests this morning, and hopefully more of a diagnosis. 

As a small rescue with very limited resources, his vet bills (which we are fully expecting to be astronomic) are going to be a big challenge to cover, so we have started a Just Giving page for Rex. 

We sympathise that times are hard for everyone, but if you could spare even £1, please consider donating towards Rex’s medical care. We are totally committed to giving him the very best chance to survive the horrors which have been inflicted on him, and no expense will be spared. 

If you aren’t able to make a donation, please help us to spread the word about Rex and most importantly, please keep him in your thoughts. 

We aren’t able to comment on the course of action we will be taking from a legal perspective, but please be reassured that we will be tirelessly seeking justice for Rex on that front. 

As always RATS Family, thank you for your love and support. You allow us to save the lives of so many animals like Rex, and we are always so grateful to you. We will be providing regular updates on how Rex is doing on our social media pages so please stay tuned.