This Is The Real, Heartbreaking Story Behind That Viral Dog Bathing Video

    Get ready to cry.

    Julie Gerstein
    by Julie Gerstein

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Maybe you saw this video of Rudy the dog enjoying a luxurious lavender bath in the sink floating around the internet recently.

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    But what the video didn't tell you was Rudy's harrowing back story.

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    Rudy was found dumped in a plastic container on the streets of NYC in November of 2014.

    Courtesy S.N.A.R.R. Animal Rescue Northeast

    Rudy was given to Special Needs Animal Rescue Rehabilitation (S.N.A.R.R.) Northeast to be treated.

    He was emaciated and had a broken leg, plus he was covered in feces and his skin was badly burned. His hair was so badly damaged that the first time he was given a bath it all fell out.

    "He was absolutely one of the most broken and heartwrenching cases I have ever dealt with," S.N.A.R.R. director Courtney Bellew told BuzzFeed.

    S.N.A.R.R. Animal Rescue Northeast

    Though at first he was afraid to even be touched by a human, his medicinal baths — aimed at helping his skin recover — and his kind foster family helped Rudy learn to trust people again.

    S.N.A.R.R. Animal Rescue Northeast

    For several months, his foster family painstakingly treated his damaged skin, his fractured leg, and the Cushing's disease he also suffered from.

    Rudy's foster family filmed the bath video during his recovery, and it was posted on Facebook in February. It has since been viewed more than 4 million times.

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    But unfortunately, all the kindness and care Rudy received at the end of his life wasn't enough to save him. He died on July 4, 2015, just four months after his bath video was taken.

    Courtesy S.N.A.R.R. Animal Rescue Northeast

    "Sometimes it is what we don't know about the dogs who we rescue, that pushes us to want to change their lives for the better even more," Bellew told BuzzFeed.

    "Although I'm very grateful that we were able to give him the time that we did as a spoiled and loved boy, I only wish it could have been many more years," Bellew said.

    S.N.A.R.R. Animal Rescue Northeast

    She said that when she met Rudy "all I wanted to do was fix him."

    "He broke my heart," she said. "His foster family felt the same way and they did absolutely everything to try and save Rudy until the very end."

    H/T Barkpost