Local dog on the road to recovery after rattlesnake bites

APPLING, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - If you thought Georgia snake season was over, think twice.

Diane Bush’s pit bull, Toby, was playing in the woods behind their yard when she found him fighting a rattlesnake.

“He’s just my little miracle boy, and he’s the hero dog that everybody wants to know what’s going on,” said Bush. “He’s Toby tough.”

Toby is a tough boy with a rough past.

“He has scars under him under his chin, he has some bullet holes, some BBs in him,” said Bush.

Toby found comfort with Bush and her family. He was dropped off across the street from their house on Memorial Day weekend. The plan wasn’t to keep him, but as an unneutered male pit bull, Bush couldn’t give him away.

“He went into the woods and went past me apparently in the woods, right down to the bench that we always go and sit at in the morning,” said Bush. “I saw him flinging one of the rattlesnakes with his mouth, and then just shaking it and, at the time, he did get a second bite.”

Both bites are on Toby’s face.

“I initially called our regular vet and they said they didn’t have it,” said Bush, talking about anti-venom, which is used to treat snake bites. “So the only place to go was Blue Pearl. He was in such a horrible state, like literally the doctor said, ‘He’s in grave danger, you may have to make a decision today.’”

Toby pulled through and is now recovering.

“This dog came to us for a purpose,” said Bush. “Was it just to save us from a rattlesnake? I don’t know. But I know for a fact that this dog has a purpose on this earth.”

Toby still has a long way to go in recovery, but Bush said within the first three days after Toby’s accident, more than $3,000 had been raised.

To follow Toby’s recovery journey, visit their Facebook page.

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