BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- In May, ABC23 brought you a story about a California City puppy that had its ears brutally cut off. But now, that puppy has a new home.

Vinny the puppy was only 13 weeks old when it was found in a field in California City with his ears completely cut off.

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Marley’s Mutts, a dog rescue, rescued Vinny, and Wednesday he was officially adopted.

Vinny is now a happy 5-month-old puppy playing with his new family, but he has had a long road to recovery.

“He went to a family that was going to adopt him because he seemed to be doing OK," Zach Skow, owner of Marley’s Mutts said. “Other than his ears, he was lackadaisical, but we had given him IVs and other than that he seemed OK.”

But ABC23 found out that Vinny wasn't OK. Vinny had developed distemper, a viral disease that is deadly in approximately half the cases.

The disease was too much for the original adoptive family to handle, and so the Welch family stepped in to try and save Vinny.

“(The dog) literally smelt like death," Andrea Welch said. “I used to work for a vet years and years ago and once you smelled that smell, it just stays with you, and he was just consumed with it.”

The Welch family agreed to foster Vinny as he recovered, but had no plans to adopt him.

But Skow said he felt that Vinny would have a forever home with the Welch family.

“Initially, (Andrea) said, we’re just fostering him, we can’t have another dog,” Skow said. “That’s not in the cards. But collectively, their hearts are as big as my truck, so I knew that that would probably end up being his permanent home.”

And soon, the entire family agreed.

The family said the best part about Vinny is despite everything he has gone through during his short life, he seems unfazed by it.

The Welch family said they hope Vinny’s story will help to remind people to get their dogs vaccinated in an effort to keep them healthy.