Even pro wrestler turned Hollywood action hero Dave Bautista has a sensitive side. One way to tap into those emotions is to ask about Penny, the rescue pitbull that put a headlock on his heart.
"I never planned to adopt Penny," Bautista told popular social media channel We Rate Dogs' Matt Nelson. "She was rescued by the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, and they put out a reward for whoever abused her. But someone left a chain, she was tethered to a chain. I don't know how she got loose, but she ended up in a graveyard of all things. They found her trying to dig food out of a trashcan, but she still had this chain that had been around her neck for so long that it was embedded in her skin. And so they put out a reward for this person, and I contributed to the reward.
"I was overseas, and by the time I got back, I called to check on her and see if there was any update on whoever abused her," he continued. "They said 'no,' and I said, 'Did anybody adopt her?' They said 'no,' and I said, 'Can I come down and get her?' They said, 'Please, come down and get her.' She's been with me since. She's my baby girl."
Penny went from an abusive environment to a posh life with Bautista and pitbull siblings Maggie, Ollie and Talulah.
"She came in with a chain embedded in her neck, and she left in a Rolls Royce," Bautista added.
Nelson does more than rate pups higher than 10 on a scale of one to 10. Per CNBC Make It, in 2020 alone, he raised $1.3 million for dogs in need.
