“They had never seen anything like it before …”
A few years back, Three Little Pitties Rescue (TLP) in Texas got an urgent call they’d never forget. A frightened stray dog had been spotted near a bustling rodeo, trapped in a metal tire rim that had become dangerously wedged around his neck.
“He was clearly panicked and in pain,” said Kelly Russel of TLP in a recent video. “They think he might’ve been chasing something like a squirrel and ended up getting stuck.”
TLP’s rescue team rushed to the scene. When they found the dog, their hearts sank—his head was swollen, and he was in visible agony. Time was running out.
“We knew if we didn’t get him to a vet quickly, he might not survive,” Russel recalled.
To prevent further harm, rescuers gently sedated the pup and transported him straight to the clinic. There, the veterinary team did everything they could to calm him, even covering him with towels to ease his anxiety. But despite their best efforts, the metal rim wouldn’t budge.
With the situation growing more serious, they turned to the local fire department for help. Even the firefighters were stunned—this wasn’t something they had encountered before. It took the “jaws of life” and over an hour of careful work, but finally, the metal ring was cut away and the dog was free.
And with that, the pup earned a fitting name: Pickles—because he had certainly gotten himself into one.
When Pickles woke up, groggy but safe, there was a noticeable shift. He was confused, but clearly relieved to be unburdened. A few days later, he went home with Russel to recover in foster care.
“He was still unsure at first,” Russel said, “but then I watched him come alive around my other dogs. It was like watching a puppy discover the world for the first time.”
From a scared, injured stray to a joyful, affectionate dog, Pickles’ transformation was nothing short of remarkable. His rescuers even signed the tire rim as a keepsake—a symbol of his strength and second chance.
Soon enough, Pickles found the forever family he was meant to be with. Though the team at TLP missed him, they were thrilled to see him thriving in a loving home.
“He’s one of the most loving dogs I’ve ever met,” Russel shared. “Now that he’s healed, he finally gets to just be a dog—and that’s everything.”