Even pro wrestler turned Hollywood action hero Dave Bautista has a sensitive side. One way to tap into those emotions is to ask about Penny, the rescue pitbull that put a headlock on his heart.
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"I never planned to adopt Penny," Bautista told popular social media channel We Rate Dogs' Matt Nelson. "She was rescued by the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, and they put out a reward for whoever abused her. But someone left a chain, she was tethered to a chain. I don't know how she got loose, but she ended up in a graveyard of all things. They found her trying to dig food out of a trashcan, but she still had this chain that had been around her neck for so long that it was embedded in her skin. And so they put out a reward for this person, and I contributed to the reward.
"I was overseas, and by the time I got back, I called to check on her and see if there was any update on whoever abused her," he continued. "They said 'no,' and I said, 'Did anybody adopt her?' They said 'no,' and I said, 'Can I come down and get her?' They said, 'Please, come down and get her.' She's been with me since. She's my baby girl."
Penny went from an abusive environment to a posh life with Bautista and pitbull siblings Maggie, Ollie and Talulah.
"She came in with a chain embedded in her neck, and she left in a Rolls Royce," Bautista added.
Nelson does more than rate pups higher than 10 on a scale of one to 10. Per CNBC Make It, in 2020 alone, he raised $1.3 million for dogs in need.
