Video: Safe at Last! Dog Freed From Painfully Embedded Collar Finds a Loving Home

For Immediate Release:
April 1, 2026

Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382

Bertie County, N.C. –

A tail of triumph! A new PETA video (available on YouTube and Instagram) shows how a sweet-natured peanut-like dog—now named Liora, meaning “my light”—went from a lonely existence chained outdoors, suffering from neglect and a collar so deeply embedded in her neck that it had to be surgically removed to being rescued and adopted into a loving indoor home, where she now races inside after walks like a joyful little “torpedo.” Her new, happy routine is a far cry from how PETA’s fieldworkers found her: sick with an infection and desperate for love and attention.

As the video reveals, PETA’s fieldworkers had stopped by the property where Liora was kept in North Carolina to deliver insulating straw and fresh water ahead of an incoming snowstorm—and give her much needed affection. Immediately, they noticed a rancid odor and discovered a massive, severely infected wound under her collar, which had cut deeply into her flesh. PETA contacted the Bertie County Sheriff’s Office, and—with deputies’ assistance—the owner relinquished custody to PETA, whose fieldworkers rushed Liora to an emergency veterinary clinic. Her owner has since been charged with cruelty to animals.

After surgery to remove the collar, and time to heal, the dog—renamed Liora by her rescuers because her spirit shines bright despite the darkest start—was adopted by a loving family in New York who had previously adopted another PETA-rescued dog. According to her new family, Liora is a natural-born leader who loves being the center of attention—if there’s love happening anywhere (with the other dog or the cats), she’s right there in the middle, soaking it up.

Liora, before her rescue, was chained outside and suffering from a severe infection caused by a deeply embedded collar. Credit: PETA

*Liora, in her new home with her new family. Credit: PETA*

“Liora was being slowly choked to death by a deeply embedded collar, but today she’s safe in a new home and finally getting the comfort, care, and love she deserves,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA urges everyone to keep their dogs safe indoors, to report cruelty and neglect wherever they see it, and help spare others the misery that Liora once suffered by pushing for chaining bans in their communities.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.