Universe, meet Brody. He's an 8-week-old puppy from Rock Hill, South Carolina, and he's basically the cutest. While it's not obvious in the image above, Brody's life recently hung in the balance after he endured being shot 18 times with a BB gun. He was rushed to a local animal hospital when a maintenance worker at an apartment complex noticed that the dog was bleeding heavily from several open wounds. Earlier that day, the employee saw that a fairly large group of teens had been playing with the dog. That's what he thought at the time, at least. After seeing what Brody had been through, however, he came to the horrifying conclusion that the adolescents were taunting and abusing the animal for their own amusement.

The kind folks at Ebenezer Animal Hospital whisked Brody away to assess his condition.

Frankly, they were disgusted by what they saw. "There is no doubt that this is one of the worst acts I've ever seen," Dr. Jay Hreiz explained to a local news outlet. Although the pellets fortunately didn't cause damage to any vital organs, the dog was shaken up and terrified. He lost a lot of blood after the attack, but doctors knew that the determined little guy would pull through.

As of now, Brody is convalescing, and his wounds are healing nicely. All he has to do at this point is get plenty of rest.

Because putting puppies under general anesthesia at such a young age is risky, vets decided to forgo removing the pellets. “He’s really young, so he has a remarkable ability to heal at his age. Brody may be able to live a healthy, normal life with all those BBs in him," Dr. Hreiz said. He will, of course, be monitored closely over the course of his life to ensure that he's still in good shape.