A few years ago, Three Little Pitties Rescue (TLP) in Texas received an urgent call that would change a dog’s life forever. A stray pup had been spotted near a busy rodeo, desperately struggling with a heavy metal tire rim stuck around his neck. He was clearly terrified — and time was running out.
“He was in real distress,” recalled TLP’s Kelly Russel in a video for The Dodo. “They think he might’ve been chasing a squirrel when he got stuck.”
TLP’s team rushed to the scene, their hearts sinking when they saw the frightened dog. His head was badly swollen, and it was clear he needed help immediately.
“Without medical attention, he wouldn’t have made it,” Russel said.
The rescue crew carefully sedated the dog to avoid further injury, then whisked him away to the nearest vet clinic.
There, staff wrapped him in towels to comfort him — he was too scared to be touched otherwise — and tried everything to remove the rim. But it was no easy task.
When the clinic team hit a wall, they called in backup: the local fire department.
“They had to use the jaws of life,” Russel said. “They’d never seen anything like it.”
After nearly an hour of careful work, the dog was finally free. The team nicknamed him Pickles — a light-hearted nod to the jam he’d gotten himself into.
Pickles woke up groggy but visibly relieved. A few days later, he went home with Russel to recover — and slowly began to bloom.
“He lit up around the other dogs,” she said. “It was like watching him turn into a puppy again.”
In the weeks that followed, Pickles transformed into a joyful, affectionate pup. While the team at TLP signed his tire rim as a keepsake, they set their sights on the next step — finding his forever family.
It didn’t take long. Pickles was adopted and now spends his days showering his humans with love, safe and happy at last.
“He gives the best kisses,” Russel said. “He’s healed — and now he’s just learning how to be a dog.”
To help dogs like Pickles get the care they need, you can donate to Three Little Pitties Rescue here.
