“For some reason when I walked in he looked like he knew me,” he said.

One of the owners of the animal hospital nursing Brody back to health said the same thing.

“Animals know when someone is important to them and (at) that meeting you can tell that Brody felt that way about Darryl,” owner April Splawn said.

De'Monte Douglas, 17, and a 14-year-old are accused of using the 6-week-old puppy for target practice Sunday, Rock Hill police said. Some of the BB pellets were lodged under the dog's skin.

A young boy at the Wildwood Springs Apartment complex tried to stop the attack, but couldn't. He ran to maintenance man Lietzesie for help.

"'’Mr. D you got to help the puppy. You got to help him,’” Lietzesie said the boy told him.

Lietzesie said he got there just as the attackers began to throw knives at the dog.

“It destroyed me especially when I touched his head and said, 'Are you going to be alright little buddy?' and he looked at me,” Lietzesie said.

Lietzesie asked for the reunion.

"I'm happy he is alive,” he said. “That says a lot to me, because I thought he wasn't going to make it."

Operators of the Ebenzer Animal Hospital said Brody is going to a good home because of Lietzesie's actions. Meanwhile, Lietzesie credited the child who warned him.

Brody will spend a few more days in the hospital before going to his new home. He has already met the 9-year-old girl who will take him home and the two get along very well.