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They were victims of almost unbelievable cruelty but Tipa, Job and Evie have gone on to again become man's best friend.
Tipa - one of hundreds of animals reunited with their rescuers at yesterday's Auckland SPCA Open Day - is now a pampered member of the Geddes family of Blockhouse Bay.
The shepherd-cross sleeps inside, likes to eat the same meals as the family and has even developed a taste for a cuppa.
"He's partial to the odd cup of tea or coffee," said owner Russell Geddes. "Lukewarm and it has to have two sugars in it."
Tipa's life now is a world away from his experience in the Bay of Islands, where he was dragged behind a car along an unsealed road at up to 80km/h as a punishment.
Joseph Rewha, a then 52-year-old beneficiary of Rawhiti, was given a nine-month jail term in March 2005 for wilfully ill-treating a dog, the longest prison term imposed under animal welfare legislation at the time.
Mr Geddes said Tipa carried some physical scars on his right shoulder and leg from where flesh was worn down to the bone and still would not walk behind cars.
Despite the mistreatment, Tipa loved people, said Mr Geddes, and was a well-known identity at the Suburbs Rugby Club, where he runs during 11-year-old Russell junior's training sessions.
"The boys love him, they think he's special."
Two other cruelty case survivors joined Tipa yesterday. Job, who was found in a vacant house in November covered in sores with eyes closed by pus, and Evie, a german shepherd which spent months recovering from a savage beating as a 3-month-old puppy.
Evie was adopted by a vet who lives on a farm in Waiuku, south of Auckland.
Job had lived on a 4ha block in Karaka since just after Christmas with a foster family and is likely to soon be ready for a permanent home.
A man charged in relation to the neglect of Job is due to reappear in court this month.
Auckland SPCA chief executive Bob Kerridge said hundreds of dogs - and a few cats - returned for yesterday's fifth Animal Reunion.
"The focus for us is adoptions and adopting to the right home. This sort of day is a celebration of that," said Mr Kerridge.
The reunion was a chance for owners to compare stories and the event included a demonstration by police dogs and Customs detector dogs.
