When his neighbors moved away, Jim Krejci noticed that they had left behind their year and a half old German Mastiff named Kujo. Kujo was chained to a fence post without food or water, and he stayed there for nearly a week before the once gentle giant got rescued this week. Jim said that hunger and thirst had caused Kujo to become aggressive and fearful, making it difficult for him to get within reach to give the dog food and water. 

Jim tried calling Lorain authorities and anyone else he could think of for help but was told they were unable to get involved due to legal issues. He became increasingly frustrated with the responses he was getting. "Everyone who's supposed to be in charge of taking care and treating animals as equals [is] letting him sit there and rot and die," said Jim angrily. 

That's when he had the idea to call a local news station who has a segment aimed at helping people. Fox8 News Reporter Lorrie Taylor came to the home and saw Kujo in his backyard prison. She got permission from the land owner to be on the property and arranged for Greg Willey of the Friendship Animal Protective League to help with Kujo’s rescue. 

When Greg arrived, Kujo was initially afraid and lunged at him. Greg put some food down and threw biscuits in front of the dog to gently coax him to eat. As he sat on a nearby step, the giant dog slowly approached the food. Once he began to eat, he became more relaxed. Afterwards, Kujo picked up the empty dog food can next to the bowl and took it back with him to a shady spot. 

Greg had also arranged for a humane officer to come and help take Kujo away. Humane officers have legal permission to take away abused dogs, whereas Lorain County’s dog warden does not.

But that did not stop Deputy Dog Warden, Nelson Delgado, from lending a hand in the rescue. He helped the humane officer get the large dog to the awaiting van. Once freed from the fence post, Kujo pulled on his chain and tried to bite Nelson, but Nelson regained control and safely escorted the neglected dog away.

Now rescued, Greg said that the dog will likely end up at the special program at Grafton Correctional, which see abused dogs paired with prisoners in order to rehabilitate them and help the dogs get ready for adoption. "From what I’ve seen, you saved a life today,” Lorraine Taylor told Greg. Nick is equally happy with the outcome and thanked everyone for helping. Relieved that Kujo was rescued, he told Lorraine, "Thank you, thank you for coming out and actually getting something accomplished."

• German Mastiff
• rescue
• Ohio
• abandoned dog
• Lorain County