Gone is the esophageal tube, he’s chomping on dry dog food again, Rosco is back home in Auburn.

In all ways, the dog’s physical recovery has been remarkable, said Rosco’s owner, Charles Howley.

“Rosco’s pretty much back to his old self, and is even barking,” Howley said. “He’s not acting timid or anything.”

But more than a month after an aggressive pitbull – which should have been confined but wasn’t — nearly killed him, the wounds are still ugly, and a broken shoulder blade has saddled the 2½-year-old Yorkie with a limp.

In the meantime, police are still looking for the dog “Nita” and her owners, Eric and Melissa Tracy, the latter who also goes by the name of Melissa Richardson

The 25-second attack on Sept. 21 on the back porch of Howley’s home not only came close to killing his dog, it has since burdened him with a veterinary bill from Blue Pearl Animal Hospital in Renton that now tops $18,000.

“I don’t have a lot of money because my wife, Lisa, is sick and it goes for her treatment,” Howley said. “Emerald City Pet Rescue is going to make a pretty good donation, but we don’t know yet what that is. I don’t know how many more treatments Rosco will need.”

Howley is now talking with a lawyer who handles nothing but animal cruelty cases.

“Personally, I want these two owners to be prosecuted for being irresponsible owners of this dog. They had two dogs, and had to keep them separated in their own house. That’s stupid,” Howley said.

While Howley has put in $5,000 toward Rosco’s treatment and continues as best he can to whittle away at the sum, as of this writing, he owes $12,500.

And that is proving a difficult mountain to master.

If anyone would like to help with Roscoe’s recovery, they may do so by mailing a check or money order marked, “In Care of Rosco’s Recovery,” to P.O. Box 2106, Auburn, WA, 98071.