For a dog named Brawn, his best friend, Brains, is his hero.
Brains earned her name after leading Brawn, an emaciated male pit bull with a 20 lb. chain wrapped around his neck, through a busy intersection in downtown West Palm Beach, Fla.
"They seemed to be friends," David Walesky of Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control tells PEOPLEPets.com. "She was nudging him, telling him to get out of the road. They were crossing traffic. He was worn out and she was in front of him saying, 'Let's get across this together. I'm waiting for you, buddy—let's go.' "
On June 14, two construction workers spotted the skinny orange male pup, who weighed about 40 lbs, stumbling as he tried to maneuver his way through a busy street. When Brawn stumbled, Brains, a black pit bull mix (above), waited for him.
"She was giving him encouragement and getting him through traffic," says Walesky. "He was up and moving, but it is difficult to drag that heavy of a chain."
The construction workers scooped up the dogs and brought them to a nearby animal shelter. Soon, Kay-Lynette Roca, founder of Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary heard of their plight, and immediately called to inquire about them.
"I asked for the dogs because they were going to put them down," says Roca. "It's so crappy for them to survive all of that and [then be euthanized]. They have gone through too much, they're obviously friends, and we are the only shelter in South Florida that takes pit bulls."
So on Tuesday, off Brains and Brawn went to the Jupiter, Fla., sanctuary, which never euthanizes animals. "They're settling in very nicely," says Roca. "They're doing very well; they need to put some weight on."
The pair are now resting comfortably together at the sanctuary's state-of-the-art, charitable veterinary hospital, where Brawn is being treated for heartworms. Next stop: the sanctuary's newly-opened, 28-acre ranch in Palm City, where they'll "acclimate and chill out," Roca says.
The West Palm Beach neighborhood in which dogs were found is known as a breeding ground for fight dogs, Roca says. "A lot of these guys will put weights and chains around their neck to build up muscles."
Roca believes Brains and Brawn broke loose from the same abusive situation. "They seem to know one another," she says. "She is protective of him, and she seems to be the leader." Thankfully, the pair don't show any aggression to other dogs or to humans. "They're very sweet," she adds. "We see no problems with them."
These best friends will now remain so forever, as they'll only be adopted out to a family willing to take both. Roca promises: "I will absolutely make sure they stay together."
If you would like information on how to adopt Brains and Brawn, or make a donation for their medical care, call (561) 747-5311 or visit the sanctuary's website.
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