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By Emma Nolan
Senior Reporter
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Animal lovers are today heaping praise on Dave Bautista after the former WWE wrestler adopted a severely abused puppy and has pledged to find those responsible.
The Guardians of the Galaxy star is now offering $5,000 to anyone who can provide information on the person who mistreated his new pet before he adopted her from the Humane Society of Tampa Bay.
Sage, a 3-month-old pit bull, was severely neglected and found with a chain tightly embedded around her neck and she had been living off of garbage.
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The Humane Society of Tampa Bay shared Sage's story earlier this month after someone dropped her off at the shelter.
The pooch underwent successful surgery to fix the damage caused to her skin by the chain and was put up for adoption.
Bautista was extremely moved by Sage's story and used his platform to try and find the individual responsible for abusing the puppy, offering a $5,000 bounty.
"ATTN Tampa Bay: I will personally hand $5000 cash to the person who gives information leading to the arrest and conviction of the sick piece of sh-t responsible for this," the 52-year-old Marvel star wrote in the post. "If you know anything please contact @humanesocietytampabay or @safek9," he posted to his 3.6 million Instagram followers last week.
The response was huge, with actor Mickey Rourke pledging $1,000 for information and a local Tampa Bay law firm also saying it would match Bautista's $5,000.
The story took a heartwarming turn over the weekend as the actor announced he had adopted Sage and that she is now a member of the Bautista family.
"The puppy you know as Sage today became Penny Bautista," he announced in a video posted to Instagram. "I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of my family... she is now a Bautista, and she will never be abused again in her life."
Bautista told local reporters he believes that animal abusers are "evil."
"To me, there's nothing more innocent and pure than a puppy," Bautista said at the Humane Society on Thursday, per WTSP.
"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."
Bautista has proven himself to be an animal lover before when he placed a $20,000 bounty on whoever was responsible for carving "Trump" into a manatee in January.
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