This browser does not support the Video element.
BELMONT, NC (WJZY) - Wilbur the dog and his owners are sleeping a little better knowing the damage caused by the fence could've been a lot worse.
"Wilbur was impaled on the fence right here and just kind of hanging limply but he was awake and wasn't crying, wasn't fussing, wasn't real bloody. He was just stuck," Wilbur’s owner Mary Anne Dixon Hubbard said.
Related: Dog in recovery after being impaled
The graphic photos are blurred but they show the rod went straight through him, between Wilbur’s hip bone and tail area, luckily, it avoided any major organs.
"He's going to be sore and he's on some pain meds but he's recovering amazingly and we are real excited about that." Dixon Hubbard said.
New Hope Fire department in Belmont came to the rescue of the pup Saturday afternoon. They used a tool they'd normally use in a car accident. It cuts metal without causing any vibrations, so Wilbur wouldn't get spooked and potentially hurt further.
Firefighters say they were surprised how tough Wilbur was through the entire ordeal.
"Someone gave the dog water and the dog drank out of a water bowl. It was a shock! It's hanging from a fence on the front of a car and the dog's like "ok whenever, ya'll get done. I just need to get to the hospital," Assistant Fire Chief David Brumbaugh said.
Wilbur's family tells FOX 46 Charlotte, they think he was chasing after some turkey vultures that have made their home in the barn behind their home.
Dixon Hubbard is now planning to get rid of the fence and put something safer in place.
"My aunts put in this fence many years ago when they had a lot of dogs and I don't think anyone has ever jumped or done this before but we now know this can happen so we are not going to have this fence," Dixon Hubbard said.