“I don’t know how to start a post like this. I guess it’s because I’ve never seen anything like it before, and personally, I hope never happens again. “
These words were posted to Facebook by employees at Tri-County Animal Rescue in response to an incident described as one of the most horrific tragedies Boca Raton, Florida, has ever witnessed.
Sometime during the night, an unidentified person threw a severely abandoned small dog over the fence of the rescue team. She landed by a truck and lay there, helpless, until the next day.
When staff ran into her early in the morning, at first, they weren’t sure exactly what they were looking at. The poor dog was in a pitiful condition. Her coat is combed so well that it is impossible to distinguish hair from skin. Her fingernails were overgrown to the point of curling around her feet and she had several open wounds that became infected.
The Tri-County Humane staff member said: ‘Her hair was glued to her skin, her fingernails were so long that they wrapped around her feet and the old wound was full of maggots. “The smell is something I’ll never forget.”
Staff immediately began assessing her condition. Frightened and abandoned, they first seduce the sweet girl, now named Parker, and get to work:
“It took more than two hours for five employees to carefully shave it, changing the whistles as they heated up,” said Tri-County Humane employee, Tri-County Humane employee. “Our vet is stitching her open sores, culturing absolutely everything. We found her mammary gland tumor and her eye was permanently open because of the mantle. One eye isn’t even fully formed yet.”
Veterinarians felt that Parker was probably owned by a backyard breeder based on her gynecological health. They suspect she has been dumped because she can no longer produce puppies.
“The carpet was so heavy that we didn’t know where her legs started. Her tail has been attached to her legs. We couldn’t even judge if she had legs,” explains the shelter’s hospital director, Dianna Otero, “Imagine every hair on your body being plucked out at once. It was constant torture for her. And this is not something that happens in five minutes or even over a year – she lived like this.”
At the time of her rescue, she had some suspicious lumps in her mammary glands. Veterinarians also had to amputate her left eye due to an infection. Parker received a blood transfusion, intravenous fluid therapy, and pain medication. At the time, she was very painful to the touch and could not be held by the new caregivers.
Parker has slowly but surely begun to make small improvements, growing stronger day by day. She is being lovingly bathed by rescuers with toys, blankets, food and snacks. One even brought her a juicy slice of watermelon!
Surrounded by a community of dedicated animal lovers, Tri-County Rescue hopes that Parker will one day make a full recovery. Until then, they will continue to bathe her with kindness and encouragement.
“Supporters, we don’t know if she’ll make it through tonight. Her little body had been through so much abandonment and torment, for so many years, but she made it. The Tri-County Rescue staff member said, “And she made it through Thursday and then Friday. She’s lost two pounds of trash and hair, and she’s not going to give up. “
