A small Papillon dog with white and brown markings stands against a plain, textured wall in an indoor setting during daytime. 3:18

Freed Chihuahua rests his head on his rescuer

Adam Parascandola took the little building for a storage shed. Inside, the smell was horrendous, and right away he saw a cage with a small Chihuahua in it. more

Adam is a member of the Humane Society's Animal Rescue Team, and the team had come to Jones County, North Carolina, to help at a puppy mill. They do many of these raids. What he found there was, in his words, pretty typical: "just a complete disregard for their emotional or physical health."

He went to open the cage, and the latch was rusted shut. "I don't think he'd come out of that cage in years," Adam said. What little food and water the dog got had probably come through the bars.

Up close it was worse. At least half of his lower jaw was missing. Under all that long fur, he was little more than skin and bone.

When Adam finally got him out, the little dog laid his head on Adam's shoulder. In that moment, Adam said, he felt responsible for him. He felt responsible for making sure this dog never had to suffer like that again.

A small Papillon dog with white and brown markings stands against a plain, textured wall in an indoor setting during daytime. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Adam Parascandola took the little building for a storage shed.

Despite all he had been through, his whole personality came out very quickly. He turned out to be quite a character.

"Meet Billy," Adam said, and laughter followed. Billy, he said, made him laugh every single day. "I just love him."

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