If a picture of Wacku popped up on your social media feed, you might think that he was a dog who was about to go viral on account of his exceptionally long tongue. An Instagram video of Wacku shows his tongue protruding from his mouth like he’s some sort of lovable cartoon frog-canine hybrid.
But if you look closely, you’ll see that Wacku is actually the survivor of a horrific attack that was carried out by a drunken man with a machete. The incident has left half of this sweet dog’s face and snout hacked off.
Wacku managed to recover from the ordeal — but after three years sitting on the shelf at the PAWS shelter in the Philippines, he was still without his forever home. Thankfully, he’s now being brought to the USA by the Road Dogs & Rescue organization and it looks like he’ll finally find his happy place.
Recapping the incident that left Wacku with a permanently halved face, Nikki Carvey from Road Dogs says, “It was random. The guy was a drunk crazy and just attacked Wacku who was in his owner’s jeep [at the time].”
A post from the PAWS organization (dated December of last year) states that Wacku’s owner did file charges against the drunk man “but the case is still ongoing and a volunteer attends the hearings.”
Despite all the violence and drama in his early life, Wacku doesn’t seem like a dog to hold grudges against humans. Nikki characterizes him as a “really sweet and happy boy” and adds that he can usually be found enthusiastically wagging his tail and seeking out human affection.
Asked about Wacku’s chances of finally getting adopted, Nikki is upbeat, saying that since his story hit the social media circuit she’s been inundated with applications. So it won’t be long before Wacku’s hopping a plane from the Philippines and getting acquainted with his forever home.
