A small dog in Bertie County, North Carolina, went from isolation and infection to safety and affection after rescuers found that a tight collar had sunk deep into her neck. The dog, first known as Cinnamon and now called Liora, was living chained outdoors when PETA fieldworkers arrived with straw and water ahead of a winter storm. What they found was a badly infected wound and a dog in urgent need of help.

According to PETA, the wound had formed beneath a painfully tight collar, and the smell of infection was immediate. The group said Bertie County deputies helped secure custody of the dog so she could be rushed to an emergency veterinary clinic, where the embedded collar was surgically removed. Local station WITN reported that the former owner was later charged with animal cruelty.

Photo: PETA
Liora was rescued just in time.

Why Embedded Collars Become So Dangerous

Cases like Liora’s can worsen slowly and then turn critical. KCRG described a young Iowa dog whose collar cut a wound nearly all the way around his neck and came dangerously close to his jugular. Rescuers said the collar had never been adjusted as the dog grew, allowing it to sink deeper into the tissue with every movement.

Humane World for Animals warns that continuously tethered dogs can suffer raw necks, collars that grow into the skin, irregular access to water, poor shelter, and exposure to extreme weather. That pattern fits what rescuers say they found in Bertie County, where Liora had been left outside in freezing conditions while fighting a serious infection.

Photo: PETA
Liora’s collar had become a source of agony.

Other Dogs Have Survived Similar Cruelty

Liora’s ordeal is not an isolated one. Newsweek reported in 2024 on Wesley, a Great Pyrenees found with a rope embedded in his neck after what rescuers believed was a year of suffering. The wound had left rotting tissue behind, and the dog was deeply afraid of people when he first came into care.

Weeks later, Wesley had recovered enough to be adopted.

Liora’s story followed a similar arc. After surgery, healing, and time indoors, she was adopted by a family in New York. PETA says she quickly revealed a bold, affectionate personality and bonded with the family’s other rescued animals.

Photo: PETA
Liora went from chains to comfort.

From Neglect to the Center of the Family

Today, Liora is no longer the forgotten dog at the end of a chain. She is inside, safe, and eager to be wherever the affection is. Her rescuers say she now charges into the house after walks and insists on being part of every moment of attention. For a dog once left to suffer in silence, that ordinary happiness is the real ending worth noticing.