Spencer, a stray Doberman, had his spine severed, but thanks to surgery and physical therapy, he’s back on his feet and ready for adoption, according to dogfull.com.

Although everyone enjoys a beautiful dog video, the first photographs Jackie O’Sullivan saw of Spencer the Doberman were everything but charming – they were a scream for assistance.

The co-founder of Rescue Dogs Rock NYC (RDRNYC) recalls, “He looked like he’d been snapped in half.”

After being brought into a South Carolina animal shelter on Jan. 4, the videos recorded Spencer appearing unnaturally twisted and sadly unhappy. Shelter personnel saw that this puppy required resources that they lacked, so Jackie’s phone began to light up with alerts from hundreds of miles away.

She discovered two videos of the underweight, reportedly purebred fawn Doberman when she checked her messages.

She recalls, “They asked if we could have him, and I said yes.”

Spencer had been eating road dead on the expressway when he was hit by a car, according to Jackie. Spencer was then taken to the shelter, where employees soon deduced that this was not the first time he had had a difficult day.

Spencer’s rescuers worried if he’d ran from a life of abuse just to be hit on the highway because of his poorly home-cropped ears and disfigured torso.

“They brought him over to our local vet, Paws and Claws in Columbia, South Carolina, and they could tell right away that his back was fractured,” Jackie recounts. “His only hope was to go to a speciality hospital, so they sent the X-rays to a neurologist the same day.”

The vets of VCA Animal Specialty Center of South Carolina had some good news for Jackie. Because Spencer was so young and could still feel his legs, he was an excellent candidate for a surgical repair of his severed spine. There was some bad news, too, though: He had a stomach full of bird bones threatening to perforate his gut, and open wounds on his head and legs needed stitching.

Spencer’s spine had to be stabilized before the secondary problems could be addressed. The procedure had to be done right away, and it would cost thousands of dollars. Spencer was worth it, Jackie realized.

“He appeared to be half-broken, yet he had a great resolve to survive.” He was kissing her and eating,” she explains. “He had every cause to live,” says the narrator.

While Spencer was on the surgery table in South Carolina, his photographs were posted on the RDRNYC Facebook page, where dog lovers were as surprised as Jackie. Well wishes and money poured in, and Spencer had his own Facebook profile by the time he went to physical therapy.

“He wrecked our website because so many people wanted to know about him,” Jackie explains.

Spencer appeared keen to get back on his feet in the days following his successful operation. His veterinarians were happy to find that the dog was anxious to begin physical rehabilitation, and they were even more pleased when X-rays confirmed that his body had passed the road kill bones successfully. He wouldn’t require a stomach procedure.

Spencer was transported to West Hills Animal Hospital & Emergency Center on Long Island two weeks into his hospitalization, where RDRNYC can keep a closer check on him as he continues with daily physical therapy.

According to Jackie, the only thing Spencer seems to enjoy more than his physical therapy sessions is playing with toys. He’s been gifted with plenty of them, and having his own playthings has brought out the puppy in him.

Over the past month, Spencer has progressed from walking in sling to walking on his own, and Jackie says he’s getting stronger every day.

Spencer is now ready to take the next step in his life, and RDRNYC is taking adoption applications, despite the fact that he still requires a lot of physical treatment. Jackie is looking forward to seeing him enter his forever home.

“He’s a lovely dog who is young, cheerful, and generally healthy. He’s eager to have a wonderful life.”

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