STARKVILLE, Miss. >> After 10 months of burn treatments, including skin grafts, a dog that had been intentionally set on fire by a child has been released from the hospital.

The Tunica Humane Society said Buddy, a yellow Labrador retriever mix, was discharged from Mississippi State’s veterinary hospital on Tuesday. He had been there since a 12-year-old boy set fire to him last April.

“This is the day we prayed for,” the humane society said in a Facebook post Tuesday. “Today, Buddy stepped back into life and a kinder, gentler world awaits him.

“We have celebrated every obstacle he has conquered along the way. His courage and determination to survive has inspired us all.”

His doctor, Dr. Betsy Swanson, has agreed to foster the dog temporarily until a forever home is found for him.

“What better place for Buddy to live out his life than with the extraordinary doctor that fought so hard to heal him,” the humane society said.

Buddy was set on fire by a child in northern Mississippi last year and underwent a series of skin grafts and has new skin on his snout. Because of his age, the child could not be prosecuted.