Lee County Sheriff's Office adopts dog found with mouth taped shut

FORT MYERS, Fla. (FOX 13) - A dog found with his mouth taped shut in southwest Florida has been adopted by the Lee County Sheriff's Office.

The dog, a Florida Cur who is now named "Chance," was found wandering through backyards in Lehigh Acres last week. His mouth had been taped shut with red electrical tape, and the sheriff's office said he was "panting, drooling and reportedly suffocating."

The dehydrated and malnourished dog was taken to the Lee County Domestic Animal Services, where he was treated for bleeding wounds on his left arm and chest.

"Chance is progressing wonderfully!" the sheriff's office wrote Wednesday in an update on Facebook. "He has gained weight, his wounds are healing nicely and he is beginning to trust select people."

One of those people is apparently the sheriff himself, who is taking the dog under his wing and even making him a "deputy."

"Sheriff Carmine Marceno has adopted and deputized 'Chance,' a dog recently discovered abused and abandoned in the Lehigh Acres area," a sheriff's office representative told FOX 13. "Deputy Chance will have an office near Sheriff Marceno's desk."

Once Chance has fully recovered from his injuries, the sheriff's office said he will serve as a "Pets on Patrol Spokes-Dog" for the agency's Community Relations Bureau when he's not residing at home with his "official" adopted parents.

The sheriff's office said Deputy Chance will even have his own email address and can be contacted at deputychance@sheriffleefl.org.