The first time I can remember not approving of a dog owner was Paris Hilton and her pup. Now she probably showered it in gifts, but all I can remember is her carrying it in that tiny bag. It was a chihuahua and it was around the same time the Taco Bell dog was a thing. So thus my tiny child brain thought, hey why doesn’t Paris’ dog say something!
See also: This Dog Toy Is Literally Indestructible And It’s The Highest Rated Toy On Amazon
Now why do I tell you the inner workings of my beautiful mind? Because BEING MEAN TO DOGS SUCKS!
And I don’t know how this could ever happen, but this little pup had a really dumb (putting it nicely) owner.
This is Violet (you’ll get the name in a sec) and her (ex)owner thought it was a good idea to dye her hair purple. This 5-pound Maltese’s hair wasn’t good enough for her previous owner and it almost cost Violet her life.
This story comes to us from Florida, mainly Pinellas County Animal Services, and they are the heros that saved Violet. She came to Pinellas after she’d been pick up after being a stray dog. She had seen better days, her fur had been turned purple with a hair dye intended for humans.
The dye had a terrible side effect which cause burns on a lot Violet’s skin. One of her eyes was almost sewn shut. I think it’s safe to say that Pinellas came in the nick of time. They weren’t even sure if Violet would survive after they picked her up.
In a Facebook post, Pinellas wrote:
“We gave fluids, pain meds and we gently washed as much of the chemical dye off as we could. We bandaged her up. Then we waited. Violet went home with our veterinarian and we waited.”
“We began the arduous process of shaving off her hair to really measure the damage — [and] to our horror her skin began to slough off,” the shelter wrote. “Good thing Violet was peacefully anesthetized. It was so much worse than we initially thought — how would this little dog make it through?!”
It wasn’t instantaneous but in the course of three months, Violet fought back. She slowly recovered and began to show that sweet side we all know and love Malteses for.
She roamed the halls more and more everyday as she got her energy back. She was really showing that resilient spirit and that a little purple dye wasn’t going to keep her down.
“When the final bandages came off we breathed a collective sigh of relief. Violet was beautiful.”
And the story gets better!
Violet was eventually adopted and never has to worry about being a color other than white ever again.
The shelter additionally wrote:
“Do not, under any circumstances, use hair color intended for humans on your pets. Chemicals in hair dye are toxic, causing a wide array of external injury to your pet — possible burns, blindness and, because an animal’s first instinct is to lick, it can cause poisoning or internal burns. Just don’t.”
So be nice to puppers and don’t dye them! Check and check!