WARNING: Graphic Images Below
Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (June 10, 2025) – A sweet and talkative, 2.5-year-old bulldog, named Petunia, is finding her voice again after recovering from severe neglect. Petunia was rescued from a local Indian Reservation by a concerned resident who reported the dire condition of the canine during one of Helen Woodward Animal Center’s Pets Without Walls visits. A deep and extremely infected neck laceration on the pup could have taken her life without the swift and dedicated efforts of the concerned individual and the medical staff at the Center’s Companion Animal Hospital.
Starting last September, Helen Woodward Animal Center opened up its Pets Without Walls program to multiple San Diego county Indian Reservations. The decision was made based upon several meetings with tribal leaders and committee members who expressed the challenges pet-owners face due to a lack of access to basic animal care services.
“What many people don’t realize,” said Helen Woodward Animal Center VP of Development Renee Resko, “is that these reservations, and their thousands of families, are not eligible for San Diego County or city resources, and struggle with the inability to access low cost animal services like spays and neuters, pet vaccinations and assistance with unruly and untrained strays. Even worse than that, they have no place to report animal abuse when they witness it.”
Petunia, an adorable chocolate and peanut butter colored bulldog, appeared to have been left outside after a medical treatment that required a cone. The cone, left on for weeks or even months, resulted in the gauze tie becoming so twisted and deeply embedded into the dog’s skin, that a deadly infection had taken hold.
“This didn’t happen overnight. Based on the circumstances we could tell this wasn’t something that happened quickly, this was neglect,” says Dr. Olivia Garvey of Helen Woodward Animal Center’s Companion Animal Hospital. “Medical staff would have told them when to remove the gauze and cone. [The owners] chose not to follow instructions, and then waited way too long to seek medical help.”
Fortunately, Helen Woodward Animal Center’s Pets Without Walls program was a resource for the concerned resident who reported the situation to Center staff tending to animals that day. Staff members were able to meet with Petunia’s owner and talk about best steps. The owner eventually agreed to surrender Petunia to Helen Woodward Animal Center and the desperately sick canine was raced into surgery to clean and repair the wound.
“Petunia’s cut was deep, all the way through multiple layers of skin down to raw areas – we could see the tendons of her neck, it was close to almost being decapitating” describes Dr. Garvey. “It was through her skin all the way around, but the deepest and most intrenched parts were the underside of her neck. Bulldogs are a breed with tougher, thicker skin than most dogs too. I believe that notion sheds even more light on the severity of the injury and extent of neglect.”
Dr. Garvey described what it was like to thoroughly clean the wound, removing dirt, infection and even maggots from the deeply contaminated area. She called it one of the worst situations she had seen in her career. Working for multiple hours, Dr. Garvey and staff used staples to reconnect separated parts of the dog’s skin. Petunia was then given mild sedatives to keep the typically rambunctious pup from reopening the wounds.
Animal abuse and neglect cases have seen a substantial increase in 2025 as compared to previous years. Helen Woodward Animal Center is stepping up to make sure these neglected and abused animals receive the medical care they require, and are quickly placed on the road to recovery, headed to forever, happy homes.
After several weeks, Petunia is recovering beautifully and is ready to go available for adoption. The Center is dedicated to its orphan animals and providing them the life-changing help they need. To adopt Petunia or to donate to help pets like Petunia, please contact (858) 756-4117 or go to: https://animalcenter.org.
WARNING: Graphic Images – https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1G1y6dE9s30hqhVm8HpilWDBu3Fe5M2kL?usp=sharing
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About Helen Woodward Animal Center
Helen Woodward Animal Center is a private, non-profit organization where “people help animals and animals help people.” Founded in 1972 in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., the Center provides services for more than 90,000 people and more than 10,000 animals annually through adoptions, educational and therapeutic programs both onsite and throughout the community. Helen Woodward Animal Center is also the creator of the International Home 4 the Holidays pet adoption drive, the International Remember Me Thursday® campaign and The Business of Saving Lives Workshops, teaching the business of saving lives to animal welfare leaders from around the world. For more information, go to: https://animalcenter.org.
