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A dog that almost died after being doused in gasoline and set on fire has become a therapy dog for victims of abuse.
Denali still has scars from being trapped in a kennel as her owner Brandi Corrigan set the house on fire as a result of a domestic dispute in Florida in August 2018, Fox 13 reported.
Police said Corrigan, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for the crime in June 2021, let six other dogs out of the house but trapped Denali because she was her husband's favorite dog.
Karey Burek adopted Denali, an American terrier mix, three years ago, she told the news station: "There's still some spots on her back where the deepest burns were.
"She's been through so much—to look at her before pictures and see how badly she was burned and abused, and just to see her come through that and be so happy and forgiving, and wagging her tail, and happy to see people."
Denali is now visiting with survivors of domestic abuse and Burek believes that her positivity is helping such people.
She said: "The one thing I hear a lot is that she still loves people, even after one person did this to her basically, and that she hasn't lost her spirit, or her kindness."
There is a strong correlation between animal abuse and other violent crimes, including domestic abuse. PetPedia estimates that almost 65 percent of animal abuse cases involve dogs and that each year 10 million animals in the U.S. alone die as a result of abuse.
The United States Human Society found in a recent survey that 71 percent of domestic abuse survivors said that their abuser also targeted their pets.
In another study that looked at households where child abuse was suspected to have occurred, researchers found that in 88 percent of the families under supervision for physical abuse of their children, pets had been abused also.
In 2018, Congress passed the PAWS Act which helps people fleeing domestic abuse to escape while also keeping their pets safe, as many victims stay in abusive households in fear for the safety of their animals, according to the United States Human Society.
It added that the number of reported cases of animal abuse in the U.S. is the "tip of the iceberg" with most incidents never reported. This makes the true level of animal abuse in the U.S. difficult to estimate.
Denali is one of the fortunate cases in which an abused animal has gone on to live a happy life, also helping others deal with abuse. Her new owner told Fox 13: "She's so happy, that her whole body wags when her tail wags."
