A man has explained how an X-ray at the vet revealed his rescue dog had been harboring a dark secret from the day they first met.
From the moment Beauford, who asked that his real name be omitted from the story, first met Beans the dog, they have shared a special bond. However, it’s only recently that Beauford discovered just how bonded by experience they truly are.
Beauford and Beans’ story began in 2017, when Beauford adopted his canine companion from the Humane Society in New Rochelle, New York. “They didn’t have much detail about his history for me, but they did tell me that he was on a farm somewhere in the Southern U.S.,” Beauford told Newsweek.
From there, in circumstances that are not all that clear to anyone involved, Beans ended up at a puppy mill in Ohio, before being rescued by the humane society. Within two weeks of arriving, he met Beauford and the rest, as they say, is history.
“They loved him at that shelter and they said he was the best behaved dog there and it was bittersweet for them to see him go,” Beauford said.
Yet, in Beauford, Beans found a kindred spirit and the perfect companion. “He’s an incredible dog and my best friend. We’ve always jived so well with each other, and are so compatible at every level,” Beauford said. “He’s also been a rock for me through some difficult trials in the last few years—post traumatic stress and clinical depression.”
The mental health benefits of having a dog are well documented. In 2021, a study published in the journal PLoS One saw 768 dog owners and 767 potential dog owners complete a survey designed to measure their levels of depression, anxiety and happiness among other things.
The results revealed significantly lower levels of depression among dog owners, with this group also found to demonstrate a more positive attitude to life.
Beans may have helped instill some of this in Beauford, but unbeknownst to his human friend, he too was carrying scars both mental and physical. That didn’t become apparent until Beans fell ill earlier this year and, as a purely precautionary measure, underwent an X-ray. “What I saw in the X-ray made my jaw drop,” Beauford wrote in a post sharing the discovery to Reddit under the handle u/Ok_Obligation9737. Littered across Beans’ back on the X-ray were a series of small dots that were remnants of something very disturbing: Beans had been shot.
“It’s essentially small bullets from a shotgun blast,” Beauford said. “One of the pellets is near his vertebrae. I’m sure that if it would have struck the vertebrae, it would have very grave implications for him, so I’d consider him very lucky in that sense.”
Up until that point, Beauford had seen little to suggest Beans was carrying with him the remnants of an injury like this. “I’ve never seen him show any signs of acknowledging its presence, except sometimes he recoils when you touch his back,” Beauford said. He recalled the humane society mentioning something about Beans having been “shot at” while he lived on the farm but had assumed his sweet pup had avoided actually getting hit. This proved otherwise.
“At first I felt really heartbroken for my dog and angry that someone would try to hurt him. He was likely only a young puppy at that time too, but afterward I began to reframe it and I realized the deeper implications of this,” Beauford said.
Beauford’s own battles with depression and PTSD could be traced back to a shooting incident he was involved in during his time as a police officer. “I stared down the barrel of a gun and nearly lost my life,” Beauford said.
When he learned what Beans had gone through something “clicked” in Beauford’s head. “I feel like we were meant to find each other,” he said. “When I first saw him in the shelter, I knew instantly I was going to rescue him. Just the way he locked eyes with me, and started wagging his tail at first sight.”
Knowing that his “best friend” who loves him so unconditionally, nearly faced the same fate has brought man and dog even closer together. “It makes me feel so much intimately closer to him knowing that we share such a similar trauma,” Beauford said. “The fact that we’ve both experienced our traumas and are still here living our lives together and supporting one another gives me a powerful new perspective that is so comforting.”
Now the ripe old age of nine and over his bout of illness, Beauford is pleased to report that Beans is living his best life. It sounds like he’s not the only one.
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