US officer comforts pit bull allegedly abandoned by dogfighting owners

A severely abused dog, left for dead by the side of a Philadelphian roadside, has been filmed being comforted by his rescuer.

Video of Russ Harper, an officer with animal rescue organisation Justice Rescue, shows him patting and embracing the very sullen pit bull.

The one-year-and-a-half old pup, named Remi by his rescuers, was found lying in a weedy verge beside a Chester City street at 5pm on November 9.

Mr Harper was called in to investigate and found the dog near death.

"He was lying over there in the weeds where someone found him and he was just cold and lifeless,” he told FOX 29.

“I really thought when I picked him up he was dead.”

Remi was taken to the Keystone Veterinary Emergency Clinic in Havertown for treatment for a severe infection and a number of bite wounds.

Rescuers believe Remi was being used for dogfighting and was abandoned by his former owners after he became ill.

While the injured dog is now on the mend, his carers are still not certain he will make a full recovery.

“He has shown some signs of improvement since he first came in so that is encouraging, but it's still touch and go,” veterinarian Dr Leanne Thompson said.

"He’s not out of the woods yet.”