POCATELLO — When Danniell Dustin first met Saber a little under a month ago, the black Belgian Tervuren was covered in his own feces.

The dog was having more than a rough month. Just several weeks prior he’d been partially paralyzed after being shot while running loose in Utah. He was then surrendered by his owner who couldn’t financially care for him, and was in the hands of the Twin Falls-based Friends Furever Animal Rescue. The rescue was searching for an experienced foster family who could support a dog who had to drag his hind legs behind him to get around.

Things didn’t look good.

“When we got him here in Pocatello, he was just covered in feces and urine, and his coat was so sick you couldn’t even feel how skinny he was because of all that dead hair he had stuck to him,” said Pocatello resident Danniell Dustin, who agreed to foster Saber. “And so we got him cleaned up and took him to the vet the next day, and we found his underside was just full of sores because he had to drag himself on the cement of the shelter ground.”

Although Saber struggled with incontinence and leakage issues due to being partially paralyzed and still had the bullet lodged near his spine, Dustin said his poor state didn’t scare her away. In fact, animals like Saber are the type she brings home to her own nonprofit rescue shelter, Dustin’ Time Rescue.

“We kind of have a funny little farm over here,” she said. “We’ve got a dog in a wheelchair because she has no back legs, we’ve got blind cats, so animals like that. That’s kind of our specialty—animals with issues, the outcasts.”

Saber fit the bill. Due to his sores and infections on his belly and hips, he needed vet appointments, antibiotics and steroids. His bedding required constant changing as his incontinence issues continued. And the major wound—a bullet that’d pierced his abdomen and lodged near his spine—needed a specialist’s care.

Some might throw in the towel and consider euthanasia. But Dustin didn’t.

“I have a soft spot for animals that look like they have no hope,” she said. “And that’s kind of what drove me to step up and say we would foster and take care of him until we could figure out his medical procedures.”

Although the holiday season had kicked in and Dustin already had several other animals she was tending to, she rose to the challenge. As December rolled by, Saber’s coat began to clear, his leakage issues began to wane, and on Dec. 29 he was able to visit a vet specialist in Salt Lake City regarding the bullet still lodged against his spine.

To everyone’s surprise, the dog soon began to not just walk again, but to run in short spurts.

“There’s three steps outside leading into my house, and he just runs right up those now,” Dustin said. “When we first got him, we had to carry him up the steps.”

Such a recovery could be called miraculous, especially with the condition Saber was in. One vet that Dustin took Saber to explained that if he ever did recover, it would “definitely take some time.” But with Dustin’s efforts and belief that Saber could some day regain his mobility, the miracle has come to fruition.

Saber’s also healing emotionally and currently favors playing with stuffed animals.

“He’s the sweetest guy,” Dustin said. “He’s got a really amazing temperament, especially after everything he’s been through. Every once in a while the kids will run past, and he’ll kind of flinch but then get excited and wag his tail. So it’s almost like he expects something bad, but then he realizes ‘Oh, this is fun’, and he’ll start to lighten up and really want love and affection.”

Dustin plans to continue fostering Saber back to health, and could use donated supplies such as toys, treats, high protein dog food, blankets and bedding. Donations can be made to Dustin’ Time Rescue at 559 Laughran Road in Pocatello. Monetary donations that can help cover Saber’s medical treatments and vet appointments are also welcome, and can be made online through Friends Furever Animal Rescue’s website at https://www.friendsfureveranimalrescue.com/copy-of-ways-to-help?fbclid=IwAR0PHDfJJblrmXui1qohZvzrEUL70xww0ZA_DrCMvyhyHSFvtQTb_SdbnYU.