Phoenix Puppy, 'Cactus Jack,' Adopted After Found Face-First On Cactus (VIDEO)

After dozens of people showed interest in adopting "Cactus Jack," an 8-week-old puppy who was found caught in a Cholla cactus in Phoenix, the Yorkie-terrier mix finally has a place to call home.

Sara Messerschmidt, a Phoenix woman who's relatively new to the area, adopted the puppy from the Arizona Humane Society (AHS) on April 26 through a drawing, the Arizona Republic reports.

The distressed puppy was first rescued by a good Samaritan who heard his cries and quickly went to work extracting Cactus Jack and pulling out the sharp spines from his body. By the time AHS arrived, the good Samaritan had nearly filled up a five-gallon bucket with spines, azfamily.com reports.

Click through the slideshow to see Cactus Jack's transformation. Story continues below.

SLIDESHOW:

Cactus Jack was soon taken to a local veterinarian, who checked him for injuries and prescribed some medication. He's expected to be just fine.

But C.J. wasn't the only one who ultimately benefitted from the "prickly situation." Bretta Nelson, AHS spokesperson, told the Huffington Post that her organization sold 73 tickets for the lottery to adopt Cactus Jack and that at least eight puppies in need of homes were adopted through the event.

Feeling inspired? Learn how you can help the Arizona Humane Society here.

Comments

[ONEBIGJOE]

03:05 PM on 04/30/2012

what a cute doggy

[cheo]

08:02 PM on 05/22/2012

Isn't he? I think my border terriers crossed with a yorkie would look just like that. Especially after the swelling on his muzzle goes down.

[greengroovy]

09:44 AM on 04/29/2012

Am I the only person perceptive enough to realize this was no accident. The spines were under his belly- he would have had to climb on top of the plant for this to happen...sorry I don't buy that this happened by accident. The puppy was clearly dropped onto the cactus intentionally. I hope they find the criminals who did this.

[My2Pence]

03:46 PM on 04/30/2012

I hope this wasn't the case, but my little super mutt decided to dive into a patch of cacti in pursuit of a deer. He had spines EVERYWHERE including his belly.

[cheo]

07:47 PM on 05/22/2012

Possible, but not necessarily. How familiar are you with Cholla cactus, also called "jumping cactus"? The sections are attached so that all one needs to do is brush against them and unlike a prickly pear or Saguaro, whole sections jumps off and attach to the victim. The more the puppy struggled to get it off the more places the pieces stuck to him.

The really cruel thing about this cactus is that it's spines are like a porcupine's--they have fish hook ends which makes them incredibly difficult and painful to pull out. And if one is out hiking with a dog and has no gloves one is very likely to get them stuck in one's hand or arm as one tries to hold the dog still. I had one go almost through my hand. It was less difficult and less painful to push it all the way through to pull it out. Ouch.

[oaoroho]

06:55 AM on 04/29/2012

Thankfully the little guy didn't get stuck in his eyes! These cacti can do some serious damage to our canine and feline friends. I bet he felt a whole lot better after waking up from having the spine removed from his nose and face. Bet it took quite a long time to for those to be completely removed.

[WinslowWong]

08:17 PM on 04/28/2012

Once again humans step in to deny nature it's doings, and pat themselves on the back.

[oaoroho]

06:52 AM on 04/29/2012

Wow, what a very screwed up point of view. Dogs have become a very intricate part of humans lives and have been over many many years and it's in our interest to take care of our pet animals, or friends and protectors. This story isn't a pat on the back, but more a happy ending to a sad situation.

[JonShank]

01:59 PM on 04/30/2012

Really? That's the person you are?

[Toolologist]

06:35 PM on 04/28/2012

Poor wittle baby! Glad he found himself a good home. He's extremely adorable.

[invisbl]

05:16 PM on 04/28/2012

freaking 5-GALLON BUCKET??

cholla are nasty, that poor thing must have been thrashing around in one. must have been torture. :(

[cheo]

07:52 PM on 05/22/2012

Don't you imagine they meant spines plus the sections they were attached to? You probably know how the sections come off easily with the spines.

[cheo]

07:59 PM on 05/22/2012

In fact I should have re-checked the slide show before replying. The bucket is shown and is not that full, even though it's a huge amount of cactus for such a little guy. I've had a dog get into a tangle with a cholla when camping in the desert. All I had was a friend, a multi-tool and my hands--no gloves. It was no fun, but then neither have been all the times I've removed porcupine quills from my dogs.

[Jess Goss]

03:20 PM on 04/28/2012

Awww! Poor baby!

[dnls]

03:19 PM on 04/28/2012

well...this pup have a fitting name.

[dlvega69]

02:34 PM on 04/28/2012

Aww! Poor pup. Thanks to the good samaritan who helped this puppy and hope he has a happy life now that he has been adopted. There still some good people left in the world.

[Watching rock grow]

02:30 PM on 04/28/2012

How wonderful for Cactus Jack, the AHS, and the many other puppies that found homes!

[laydelifecoach]

02:19 PM on 04/28/2012

Just look at that cute face. Who could do such a thing?

[ipleathe5thh]

03:05 PM on 04/28/2012

Hopefully nobody did. As we all know Puppies like to roam and he might've been playing and accidently ran into it

[laydelifecoach]

03:24 PM on 04/28/2012

I hope that's the case. All is well and he's in a good home.

[Alisa Homann]

02:19 PM on 04/28/2012

Bless his little heart!!!

[lauren963]

02:17 PM on 04/28/2012

this puppy is adorable!!!

[lauren963]

02:16 PM on 04/28/2012

this puppy is so adorable! so glad he feels better now!!

[Oliver Zilemslu]

01:55 PM on 04/28/2012

what a handsome handsome dog. being a cat person i might have even adopted him