Friendship APL asks for your help after emaciated dog was found in Lorain
LORAIN, Ohio (WJW) — It is a heartbreaking sight: A dog so skinny and neglected that he was literally near death when he was found.
Members of a local humane society are asking for help from the public to nurse him back to health and to find out who neglected him.
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“He’s severely, severely emaciated, so you can see every bone on his body and every rib, you can see his pelvic bone, you can see his whole entire spinal column, he is nothing but literally skin and bones,” explains Greg Willey, executive director of Friendship Animal Protective League in Elyria.
The three to four-year-old boxer-mix was near death when he was brought to the Friendship APL on Sunday, according to Willey.
He is now receiving extensive medical treatment at Animal Clinic Northview in North Ridgeville.
“The measure of the body score of an animal is on a scale of one to nine, most often, and his condition, he would be at about a body score of one, which, to be any lower, you would have died of malnourishment or neglect,” Willey said.
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Willey said he named the dog Lincoln because he was found near a wooded area on Lincoln Boulevard in Lorain.
“It would take weeks or months to get into this condition, this isn’t a condition that happens overnight,” he said.
Willey said someone called police and contacted the dog warden when Lincoln was found wandering in the area.
Willey said it is impossible to tell how the dog became a stray, whether someone dumped him in Lorain, if he was abandoned somewhere else or got away from his owner.
“He weighs just a little, probably right now, over 30 pounds. He should be weighing between 60 and 70 pounds,” Willey said.
Lincoln will need weeks, or even months, of treatment. He has no fat or muscle and has trouble walking or standing for long periods of time.
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He is very shy and nervous and has little energy. Even feeding him in this condition is a challenge.
“If you feed them too much too fast, you could actually cause the dog severe damage from doing that,” Willey said. “It takes, oftentimes, I-V fluids and anti-biotics to supplement the dog.”
Willey said treating Lincoln will be expensive and said Friendship APL would appreciate any help they can get.
“Under emergency care in an ICU department, that’s going to run our shelter thousands of dollars to provide this dog the care that this dog so desperately needs,” Willey said.
He said it will take months to know what long-term effects Lincoln might have from his malnourishment.
Anyone who has information about the dog or his owner can call the police or the Friendship APL, which is also accepting donations.
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