Dog found with mouth taped shut officially a deputy for Lee County Sheriff's Office

FORT MYERS, Fla. (FOX 13) - A dog found with his mouth taped shut in southwest Florida has been given a second chance and is now officially a deputy for the Lee County Sheriff's Office.

The Florida Cur, now appropriately named "Chance," was found wandering through backyards in Lehigh Acres in February with his mouth had been taped shut with red electrical tape. The sheriff's office said he was "panting, drooling and reportedly suffocating."

The sheriff's office soon decided to adopt Chance and make him a deputy and "Spokes-Dog" for the agency.

"Sheriff Carmine Marceno has adopted and deputized 'Chance,' a dog recently discovered abused and abandoned in the Lehigh Acres area," a sheriff's office representative told FOX 13. "Deputy Chance will have an office near Sheriff Marceno's desk."

Deputy Chance sprang into action this past weekend to "get his paws dirty" and complete his first official assignments. He accompanied Sheriff Carmine Marceno to a ribbon cutting ceremony in Fort Myers and observed a teen driver challenge sponsored by the sheriff's office.

"Deputy Chance is recovering nicely and full of energy!" the sheriff's office wrote in an update on Facebook. "when asked to describe his first day on duty, Deputy Chance stated, 'ruff.'"

Chance is a "Pets on Patrol Spokes-Dog" for the agency's Community Relations Bureau when he's not residing at home with his "official" adopted parents.

The sheriff's office said Deputy Chance will has his own email address and can be contacted at deputychance@sheriffleefl.org.