This lamentable tale is about a puppy named Nubbins.

Nubbins, a 5-month-old, chocolate-colored pit bull was discovered Monday by Columbus Police officers responding to a call at Lot 17, Stoker's Mobile Home Park on Plateau Drive.

When they laid their eyes on the sorrowful animal, they found his tail had been crudely carved away in a botched "backyard" attempt at docking it. Tail docking and ear cropping are controversial procedures commonly performed on animals to fulfill an aesthetic ideal for the breed.

Despite his bloody, painful-looking wound, Nubbins greeted the officers tenderly.

Once in the hands of the Muscogee County Humane Society, Nubbins underwent a proper surgical procedure to fix his tail.

Veterinarian Susie Seward operated on the puppy. She said he was brought to her with a rubber band tied tightly around his tail, a common but cruel technique used by many pit bull owners who decide to take a do-it-yourself approach to shortening their pet's tails. Seward wasn't sure if the rubber band had been wrapped around the tail post-amputation in an effort to stop the bleeding, or placed there prior to the tail's removal to kill the tender tissue.

Whatever the course of action the puppy's owners took, it wasn't pretty.

"Skin and bone and tendons were all showing," Seward said.

Drale Short, chief of special enforcement for the Columbus Consolidated Government, said gruesome wound aside, Nubbins came to them in good shape. He was well fed and up to date on his vaccines.

"He's a beautiful dog, really," she said. "With a great coat."

Shortly after the puppy arrived at the animal shelter, his two owners came in to claim him. Although they said they did authorize a friend to perform the docking procedure on Nubbins, they will not be charged with animal abuse because they didn't intend to injure the puppy, Short said. The owners, both Spanish-speaking women, said they didn't have enough money to take him to a vet to correct the problem after it became apparent their friend had made a terrible mistake.

"They didn't understand that you just can't do that," Short said. "We really felt there was no malice in it. They surrendered the animal to us."

So, Seward removed the rubber band, cut off more of the tail and dead tissue, then sewed Nubbins up. She also neutered him in an effort to prepare him for future adoption.

There's just one small problem.

The board of the Muscogee County Humane Society has eliminated pit bull adoptions because of liability issues, Seward said. She also said the decision was based on the idea that some people adopt the breed for the wrong reasons. For example, the animals tend to be viewed as cool-looking, macho status symbols, yet some owners just don't have the resources to care for them, Seward said.

There has been recent talk amongst board members to re-open the center to the breed, but such a decision has not yet been made.

It's not all bad news for little Nubbins, who will be handed over to PAWS Columbus once he is well. They will handle the adoption. Now, all he needs is a loving owner to take him in.