Survivor of dog fighting ring needs good home

A year ago, Hazel was living on the end of a thick chain in the dirt outside a home in Gastonia.

Scrawny and flea-bitten, she was suffering from advanced heartworm. She was found with eight other dogs who were being used in an alleged dog fighting ring. The man who lived at the home, Rico Pagan, 50, was charged with 12 felony counts of cruelty to animals, three felony counts of dog fighting, and 12 misdemeanor counts of restraining dogs in a cruel manner.

The Humane Society of the United States gave seven of the dogs to Mr. Bones & Co., an animal welfare nonprofit in New York. One of the dogs was unable to be rehabilitated and had to be euthanized. The other five have been adopted.

Hazel alone remains.

"She's put on weight. She's happy. There's a light in her eyes," said Elizabeth Frank, the organization's founder and executive director. "The difference is vast. She's like a whole new dog. She just literally smiles now."

Hazel is a brown pit bull who is thought to be around 6 years old, and Mr. Bones & Co. has launched a campaign to try to find her a home.

The longer she stays in the program, Frank said, the harder it is to find a family who wants her because people assume that she's there for a reason.

"She's kind of been through hell and just came out the other end just fairly unscathed," Frank said.

One of the challenges is that Hazel needs to be the only dog in a home. She prefers people to other dogs, Frank said.

"You could probably rob her trainer's house with a french fry," she said. "I think that's also important for people to understand. She truly is beautifully tempered when it comes to human beings. We've never heard any concerns for anybody's safety the entire time we've had her."

Frank said Hazel is funny, content to go on walks or to relax with her trainer.

"I picture like a tap dancing jazz singer, if I think of what her personality would be if she were a human," Frank said.

Frank said that many people assume that dogs used in fights are lost causes, but that's often not true.

"People pick the dogs they pick because they're so beautifully well adjusted in terms of how they interact with people and they will do whatever their people tell them to do," Frank said.

One of the other dogs reportedly used in fights was adopted by a New York Police Department police officer, who has two children.

"She's been in the home now and it's been finalized for about five months I love seeing the updates just with her and the kids just sort of snuggled in the bed together," Frank said.

Ultimately, Hazel just needs a chance.

"She's affectionate. She gravitates towards people. I don't understand the resistance to Hazel. She's also stunningly beautiful," Frank said.

Reporter Kara Fohner can be reached at 704-869-1850 or at kfohner@gannett.com. Support local journalism by subscribing here.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Dog that survived Gastonia dog fighting ring needs home