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Bear The Dog Is Cut Free After Being Chained For 15 Years To A Kennel [Video]

By JohnThomas Didymus
Published on: 22:59 PST, Jan 23, 2017

Heart-warming video has emerged showing the moment that an animal rescue group set Bear the dog free after spending most of the 15 years of his life chained to a kennel in his owner’s backyard in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. Bear’s owners kept him chained to his kennel since he was puppy and left him. He managed to survive chained to his kennel through harsh winters for 15 years.

Bear’s owner agreed to turn the dog over to the animal rescue group Guardians of Rescue after giving him very little care and attention for 15 years. The Lab-Chow mix lived outside alone in his owner’s backyard in Shirley, a hamlet in the Town of Brookhaven, New York, for 15 years, tethered with a heavy chain to an old, rickety kennel that offered practically no protection from harsh winters, rain and sunshine.

But recently, members of the animal rescue group, the Guardians of Rescue, found him and set him free.

Bear the dog lived most of the 15 years of his life chained to an old kennel in his owner’s backyard. [Image by Nick Chase 68/Shutterstock]

“We received a call about a dog in need of a dog house,” Robert Misseri, the founder and president of Guardians of Rescue, said, according to the New York Post. “But when we got there, it was even worse than that. That’s when we discovered the poor dog had spent his whole life attached to a heavy chain. We knew then and there that we had to do something to make a difference in that dog’s life, and so we did.”

After the group provided a new dog house, they asked Bear’s owner, who was neither named nor charged with cruelty to an animal, if they could take the dog away and he agreed.

A heart-warming video uploaded online (see above) shows members of the animal rescue group Guardians of Rescue, based in Smithtown, cutting Bear free after he had lived in his owner’s backyard chained to his dog house for 15 years.

Bear lived chained to his dog house in his owner’s backyard for 15 years. [Image by Nick Chase 68/Shutterstock]

However, Misseri defended Bear’s owners, saying they “were not bad people.”

“They had indoor pets and when they got Bear as a puppy, they made him an outside dog, protecting (the property),” he said. “He was a pretty much a guard dog.”

“But they did the right thing [surrendering Bear] and now he’s being shown things he’s never seen before and the time he has left can be a special treat,” Misseri added.

The old dog is now living at Save-A-Pet Rescue in Port Jefferson Station, where he sits in front of fireplaces for hours at end daydreaming, according to the New York Post. His carers at Guardians of Rescue say they are searching for a permanent home for the dog. They believe Bear would be ideal for an older person or couple.

The dog is healthy and his received all his shots, they added.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSHzzsVuhYc

“We come across a lot of chained-up dogs and you can’t get near them because of their frustration of being chained up. But that wasn’t the case here,” said Misseri. “When we arrived, he was wagging his tail. He greeted us. He’s great with people.”

Bear’s carers took him to the spa for grooming after setting him free. The took him to dog parks and an indoor pool, according to the Daily Mail.

Although Bear has lived on Long Island all his life he had never seen the beach. So his carers took him to see the beach for the first time (see video above).

“Our mission is to help rescue as many animals as we can, but we can’t do it without the help of the community,” Misseri said, according to the Daily Mail. “One phone call from someone in the community set the wheels in motion that have changed Bear’s life. That’s a true success story and why we exist.”

[Featured Image by Angel Salade/Shutterstock]

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