Pit bull abandoned in NJ gains worldwide following

When an emaciated pit bull found at the bottom of a trash chute in New Jersey was rushed to a veterinary emergency room last month, doctors there thought he would be dead within the hour.

Instead, the scrappy pup, nicknamed Patrick, has defied the odds and is getting stronger by the day.

"He is a tremendous fighter," said Dr. Thomas Scavelli, the director and founder of the Garden State Veterinary Specialists, the pet hospital in Tinton Falls where Patrick is being treated. "There are very few animals, or any life form, that could have gone through and survived what he has, and really never looked back."

Hospital staffers, who named the dog for his reddish fur and because he was found the day before St. Patrick's Day, have been chronicling his progress on their website and a Facebook page that has garnered fans from around the world. He's received hundreds of emails, donations, gifts and letters from those inspired by his tale of survival.

When Patrick was brought to the hospital after being rescued by officials at the Associated Humane Societies, he was so starved, emaciated and dehydrated he was curled into a ball, unable to walk or stand. His ribcage protruded, he weighed about 20 pounds — roughly 30 pounds less than average — and was covered in sores with parts of skin hanging off him, according to Patricia Smillie-Scavelli, Thomas Scavelli's wife and the administrator of the hospital.

Read the rest on Yahoo News.