If you live in the country, you’re likely to find some strange things while you’re out exploring every now and then. For one thing, you’ll probably run into stray animals that you might not want to—some of what you might see are things like raccoons and rats. Still, sometimes we find things that we truly weren’t expecting. That was what happened to Bret Winingar and his son Zach, both of whom were living in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Winingar and Zach were riding their motorcycles on the road when the pair spotted something unusual.
They stopped, pulled off and decided to see what they had found. What the pair had seen was actually a plastic dog carrier. When they went closer to inspect it, they saw that the top of it had been chewed through as if whatever was inside had tried to escape. Shockingly enough, the crate was not actually empty.
Inside, the Winingars found a black dog that had withered down just his skin and bones.
It was clear that the dog had been left alone there for some time.
As the dog came out of her cage, the two Winingars saw that the inside was covered in the dog’s waste. “[She smelled] so strongly of death that we couldn’t stand to be downwind, her white feet stained brown from standing hunched in her own feces.” The animal also had plenty of contact sores from staying in such an unsanitary and cramped environment. The two quickly decided they needed to help this animal.
To do so, they rushed home to get Zach’s truck along with some dog food.
They came back, picked her up and drove away with her.
Although the two men were worried that it might be too late for the dog, they were inspired by the fight they heard left in her. “I heard an almost inaudible growl,” Bret said,” and I thought, ‘If you’ve got enough strength to growl, you’ve got enough strength to live.’”
When they got the dog home, they named her Charlie Bravo in honor of the Honda CB motorcycles they were riding when they found her.
Once Charlie Bravo was home, the family made sure she got showered clean before taking her to the veterinarian.
The vet was able to check out Charlie and found a lot of issues. Her nails had grown long enough that they had started to grow back into her paws and she was having trouble walking around. After checking her out, the doctor estimated that she was about eight months old.
Although Zach and Bret wanted to help Charlie out, they couldn’t adopt her themselves because they already had several dogs of their own at home.
While she was on the mend, Charlie stayed with Zach and Bret as she gained weight and got her strength back. Still, as they got to know Charlie better and better, the family fell more and more in love with her. Over time, the two begin to see Charlie’s incredible emergence from that crate as a metaphor for life:
“Breaking down limits, the story of Charlie’s crate has left a lasting mark in more ways than one. Charlie was abandoned in her crate, skin over bones when we found her. To us, that crate is an analogy for every person that lives in a self-imposed prison. That could be a dead-end job, an abusive relationship, chemical or alcohol addiction, or the most confining crate of all, the fear of the unknown. Charlie is beautiful and happy and blossoming today. She reminds us that with a little help, we can do that too.”
Charlie’s rescue story was shared on Facebook where it’s been liked and re-read many times.
The family has since started their own personal website to commemorate their experiences with Charlie Bravo. It has since grown to tell more of the daily adventures of Charlie and the Winingar family—along with their own merch for anyone who is a particularly huge fan. Overall, Charlie Bravo’s story is an inspirational one which reminds us that change and transformation are always possible. All it takes is the right combination of circumstances and an open heart.
Congratulations on your new home, Charlie!
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