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Abused Racine dog ‘Rocky' finds forever home in Colorado

Posted at 8:06 PM, Nov 03, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-03 21:06:42-04

The incident didn’t get a lot of play in local media, but those who learned about it were horrified. This past summer a Pit Bull named Rocky was dragged by a van (apparently a deliberate act) and suffered severe injuries.

Last month, 53-year-old Peter Valente was charged with felony mistreatment of animals and intentionally leading an animal from a motor vehicle.

Rocky ended up at The Wisconsin Humane Society’s Racine campus to undergo treatment and begin the arduous road to recovery.

Fast forward to November, next week Rocky will begin a cross-country drive to Denver, Colorado to begin his new life, appropriately in the Rocky Mountains.

“I’ve always been an animal lover,” Justin Sobojinski told TODAY’S TMJ4 today as he awaits the arrival of his newest family member in Colorado. “I think I’m just naturally drawn to animals that have had a rough past.”

Although Justin lives in Colorado now, he is originally from Wisconsin Dells. After purchasing a new home, he decided to add a second dog to his family and began to peruse The Wisconsin Humane Society’s websites.

“As soon as I saw Rocky’s Humane Society Post, I knew he was the dog for me,” Justin said. “The name (I live in the Rockies), the Wisconsin ties and the story sealed it.”

Justin’s friends Laura Kruger and James Burns are co-fostering the dog here until Rocky leaves for Colorado. Laura shot some video of her new roomie this morning that is posted with this article.

“Justin and I met years ago working at Pizza Palace,” Laura said. “When I saw his post about wanting to rescue Rocky, I offered to help. I’ve had that ‘that’s my dog’ moment. Sometimes you just know it is meant to be.”

Right now the plan is for Rocky to ride shotgun all the way to Colorado with another of Justin’s many dog-loving friends.

“If that plan falls through, I will take him out there myself next weekend,” Laura said.

“Moving forward, Rocky will be spending lots of time with me up in the mountains,” said Justin. “He and Cash (Justin’s other Pit Bull) are going to be a great match and will have lots of time to play tug-o-war in the backyard and soak up the 300 days of sunshine we get out here in Colorado!”