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FORT COLLINS, Colo. (KDVR) – The new owners of an abused puppy are looking for help covering his medical bills. They don’t know the full story of how this puppy was injured, but they say they want to give him the best life possible.

Nemo is a 12-week-old puppy that was brutally abused early in his life. Someone cut off his ear, his tail and sliced open his stomach. He survived, was rescued and adopted, but still needs medical attention.

Janelle Vargas and her sister, Christy Shampine heard about his story and fell in love with him.

“We have a client at the hair salon who saw the story on Facebook about his injuries. She reached out to me because I love dogs. It was heartbreaking thinking of it. We found out a couple of days later he was going to be at the local pet stores for adoption. Of course, when we walked in and saw him, we just couldn’t leave without him,” Vargas said.

“He loves on everyone, he gives everyone attention, just like a joy in everyone’s life right now,” Shampine said.

“We think his injuries happened so early on that he doesn’t have any memory of it. He’s not afraid of people, he’s not afraid of other dogs. He loves people, kids, dogs, cats you name it. He’s a great dog,” Vargas added.

They were told when they adopted him all of his injuries had healed, but they are finding out now there are other issues, like his tail healing in a way that causes him pain and makes it hard for him to go to the bathroom. 

“The vet recommends a possible re-amputation because as he gets bigger, it’s going to cause a lot of pain,” Vargas said.

Insurance won’t cover these preexisting conditions. So they started a GoFundMe to raise money to help take care of Nemo.

“He doesn’t seem affected for the most part, but there are certain things, he’s not the biggest fan. We just want to make sure he has the genuinely happy life he deserves. We want to make sure he has the redemption story he deserves,” Shampine said.

“We just want him to have the best life ever because, even if he came fine with no injuries, just with what he’s gone through we want him to have no pain and live a long healthy life,” Vargas said.