Dave Bautista has welcomed a new member into his family.
On September 16, the Humane Society of Tampa Bay posted to their Facebook page that 3-month-old Sage was brought in by a Good Samaritan who noticed the young pup eating garbage on their drive home. She was presented with a metal chain embedded and hanging from her neck. The Society immediately prepped her for surgery and removed the chain.
It was announced shortly thereafter that the pit bull made an excellent recovery. Then, after being under the care of the Society for a few weeks, was placed up for adoption and received "extreme" interest from countless families.
The heart-wrenching story grabbed the attention of Dave Bautista, who posted photos of Sage to his Instagram account and told his followers that he would "personally hand" $5,000 to anyone with information that would lead to the arrest of the person(s) responsible for Sage's injuries.
The Humane Society of Tampa Bay joined Bautista, saying that they would add $1,500 to the reward. Alvarez Injury Law followed suit, matching Bautista's original $5,000 pledge.
Speaking with WHAS11, Bautista said the following: "To me, there's nothing more innocent and pure than a puppy. For someone who can abuse a puppy has got to be the lowest form of human being, pure evil, for someone who can abuse an animal like that. It makes me sick to my stomach."
Though Sage's former owners have not been found, Bautista shared an update on Sage's future on Thursday, announcing that, "the puppy you know as Sage actually became Penny Bautista."
"She is now a Bautista and she will never be abused again a day in her life. She is about to live her best puppy life ever … and she has her forever home," Batista added in an Instagram video.
The Humane Society thanked Bautista for adopting Penny and shared a photo of the WWE Legend signing the dog's adoption papers and a video of him preparing to take her home. Their post can be seen here.