One horse who's been through the roughest of times is grazing in a happier place thanks to Jon Stewart.
A nearly blind mare named Lily, who lived in New Holland, Pennsylvania, appeared to have been shot more than 100 times with paintballs earlier this year, the Associated Press reported.
The comedian and his wife, Tracey, adopted the 20-year-old mare and she'll be taken to the couple's animal sanctuary in New Jersey on Wednesday, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
"Certainly, I don't think we could have planned this or imagined this," Kelly Smith of the Omega Horse Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, the group who has been caring for Lily, told the outlet of the adoption. "I'm one of the people who believes in divine intervention."
The couple have also adopted another horse named Anita, who was the victim of neglect. According to a statement from the Humane Society of the United States, Lily was found abandoned in a stall. In addition to the marks paintball marks found on her body, the mare was also emaciated and blind in her right eye.
“Lily is one of the sweetest and most gentle souls I have ever encountered," Kirsten Tullo, Pennsylvania state director for HSUS, said in the statement. "There is no excuse for wounding defenseless animal like this horse in Lancaster."
The horse was brought to Penn Vet New Bolton for medical care. She had her right eye removed while unhealthy tissue was removed from her left eye.
Since then, the mare, who's put on a few hundred pounds, has bounced back.
“You wouldn’t recognize her, she’s a different horse,” Smith told Lancaster Online.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Smith met Tracey at Penn Vet New Bolton over a month ago. Though Tracey had offered to take the mare in then, it wasn't long before the Stewarts decided to adopt Anita as well.
It seems like now, Lily, will have a whole lot to look forward to.
"She’ll be well cared for, and she’ll never want for anything again," Smith said, according to Lancaster Online.
While it isn't clear exactly how Lily ended up with the numerous paintball marks, Philip Price Jr., 65, has since been convicted of animal cruelty, along with other charges, Fox 43 reported.
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