In November of 2010, a man walked through the front door of DC Animal Care & Control with a matted heap of fur in his arms. He explained to the front desk that he had seen this dog hobbling around the neighborhood on 3 legs for about a week. As he was leaving for work on this particular morning he discovered the little guy lying down against the driver’s side tire of his truck. The man made friends with the dog over a bologna sandwich and before long they were on their way to the shelter.
Underneath all the hair and knots was a Lhasa Apso that we named Balboa. His fur was so severely matted that the Veterinary Technicians weren’t able to vaccinate him because the needle wasn’t long enough to reach beyond the thick layer of woven hair. The fur from his back right leg had actually adhered to the fur on his belly, inhibiting any use of that leg and making it difficult to walk. Balboa’s nails were so overgrown that they were painfully twisting and curling and growing back into his paw pads.
He also had itchy sores on his front legs that he had been obsessively chewing and licking, causing a skin infection.
WHS Animal Care Supervisor, Cindy Velasquez took on the project of freeing Balboa. His fur was matted so densely and so close to the skin that she had to use scissors to carefully snip the fur piece by piece at the base because the clippers kept jamming. Balboa seemed to welcome his make over as he lay perfectly still for several hours. A near perfect shell was eventually removed from his body revealing what appeared to be a well fed dog underneath. Was it possible that Balboa had an owner?
Because of this level of neglect, Balboa’s situation was reported to our Humane Law Enforcement department but because he was a stray we had very little information on him. At this point all we could do was wait...
While we waited for an owner to come forward to claim him we arranged for a professional grooming. The sores on his arms and the cuts on his paw pads were treated and began healing nicely. We also learned that he was a resilient little boy who appeared unfazed by his experience, welcoming all forms of handling from baths to belly rubs.
Balboa’s original owner never surfaced and any possibility of a case against this owner was now closed. He was adopted into his forever home only a month after his finder drove out of his way to bring him to the shelter.
Stories like this happen all too often, and each time WHS is there to help. You could help Washington Humane Society rescue and re-home many more animals by helping us secure a spot in the national competition, the ASPCA’s $100K Challenge to Save Lives. In order for WHS to even get a chance to win the grand prize of $100,000, we need to be one of the top 50 online vote getters in the country. The voting ends at midnight on Friday April the 15th so every vote is critical! You can cast your vote once a day at www.votetosavelives.org
Balboa when he first arrived
WHS Animal Care Supervisor, Cindy Velasquez grooming Balboa
Submitted by Gina Lantella, WHS Animal Care Manager, New York Ave
The sores on his arms and the cuts on his paw pads were treated and began healing nicely
Posted by: vibram five fingers | April 16, 2011 at 03:13 AM