Dog ‘severely burned’ in house fire adopted by firefighter

A dog who was "severely burned" in a house fire has been adopted by a firefighter after being scheduled to be put down.

Lexi Ann became trapped in a fire in Minnesota earlier this year. The blaze killed her entire litter but she was able to escape when the plastic dog house she was in melted around her. The dog's owners took her to be euthanised, but vets believed she could be saved and asked animal rescue Ruff Start to intervene. They found a foster home for Lexi Ann to live in while her wounds healed, all the while sharing her progress on social media in the hope of eventually finding her a permanent home. Eventually, firefighter Travis Oliver got in touch and said that he and his family would love to adopt the dog. According to Ruff Start, Travis "instantly fell in love" with her. "Lexi Ann has a forever family," the wrote on Facebook this week. "This Saturday Travis and his family brought an RV 11 hours to meet Lexi Ann, including their dog Odin! It was an instant love connection and Lexi found her forever family!" They said:

"Her dad is a full-time firefighter and connected with Lexi due to the trauma he knows fire can impact on the lives of humans and animals. He actually has pulled his fair share of animals out of fires, many of which were not as lucky as Lexi Ann. "Her dad will even be bringing Lexi to a camp in Indiana that helps burn victims to help the kids with their own healing."

Beautiful. Just beautiful. After Lexi Ann was rescued, Ruff Start said that whatever hair she had left on her body had been singed from the fire and that she had dozens of "horrible burns" on her feet, sides, and face. Some of her burns reached as far as her muscle and she also had a large ulcer covering one of her eyes. Despite this though, Lexi Ann "still is tail wagging all day." The best girl there ever was.