When Protect Animals Worldwide received an urgent call about a dog trapped in an open tar pit at a construction site, their team rushed to the scene, fearing the worst.
What they found was heartbreaking: a dog nearly completely encased in thick black tar, barely able to breathe under its crushing weight.
“At first, we didn’t even know if he was going to survive,” Luana of Protect Animals Worldwide told The Dodo.
There were no warning signs or barriers around the pit, and locals told rescuers this wasn’t the first time an animal had fallen in.
The tar covered the dog’s entire body — even his eyes and nostrils. Disoriented and panicked, his body was beginning to shut down.
“It was everywhere,” Luana said. “Our hearts were breaking.”
The team rushed the pup, later named Luciano, straight to a grooming facility, where veterinarians stood by as rescuers began the painstaking process of removing the tar. The cleanup was so intense that they had to pause at times to stabilize Luciano medically before continuing.
“In all of our rescues, we had never seen anything like this,” Luana said.
Hour after hour, the team worked. In total, it took 72 grueling hours to free Luciano from the tar. When the last traces were finally gone, he was almost unrecognizable — a completely different dog beneath the black coating.
At first, Luciano was weak, hungry and unsure of the world around him. But as his body healed, something else changed too. He began to relax, and his gentle, loving personality slowly emerged.
Four months after his terrifying ordeal, Luciano’s story took a joyful turn. A family stepped forward, ready to give him the life he had nearly lost.
“They truly opened their hearts to him,” Luana said. “And he opened his right back.”
Today, Luciano is thriving in his forever home — safe, loved and finally free. His days of struggle are behind him, and his future is filled with comfort, care and happiness.
