Ruby rescued by community

Come late August, after a summer of camping with her family and swimming in lakes, Ruby the pit bull will undergo much needed surgery on her leg thanks to donations from the community.

Owner Aubrie Ricketts said Wednesday the response to a Nevada Appeal story last Thursday on Ruby's plight brought an outpouring of support into Ricketts' workplace, Lone Mountain Veterinary Hospital.

The animal clinic was deluged with some 30 envelopes containing well wishes and cash. Ricketts said several people came in to deliver money, including an elderly woman in a wheelchair who stuffed $2 into Ruby's collection bucket.

"We've got $4,800," said the still stunned Ricketts. The amount is enough to cover Ruby's $3,000 surgery and help Ricketts pay off the loan for a previous leg surgery. Any money left over, she said, will be put into the Ruby To The Rescue Fund, managed by the Carson Tahoe SPCA.

"When people were coming in Friday morning it was mind boggling," said Ricketts. "I couldn't believe the response. I just want to say thank you."

Ruby came into Ricketts' life two years while Ricketts worked for the Washoe County SPCA.

Animal control officers rescued Ruby from a Reno home where someone had lopped her ears off with pruning shears, duct taped her mouth shut and stuffed the puppy in a box, then into a closet.

After nursing Ruby to health from that traumatic experience, Ricketts discovered Ruby had bad joints. Three legs have already been operated on. Two of the surgeries were funded by the Carson Tahoe SPCA. Ricketts got a loan for the third surgery. She needed some help for the final one.

She doesn't need help anymore.

"This is all we need," Ricketts said. "I feel so overwhelmed. I don't really know how to process it all."

If Ruby's butchered ears are a reminder of her abuse, her bright eyes and wagging tail tell the story of her happiness.

"How could somebody do that to her?" said Ricketts. "And then to see how sweet she is. That's what's amazing to me, that she still loves people so much."

Ricketts said she hopes Ruby's story will not only make people realize that animal abuse happens, but it will help improve the oft-maligned pit bull's image as a vicious animal.

"Pit bulls, even if they are abused like this, aren't always bad dogs. I mean look at her," she said of her happy dog, "if she didn't have cut off ears you would never know something bad happened to her."