Golden retriever with chain embedded in neck moved Humane Society veterans to tears

Part of Erin Golightly’s job is to euthanize animals whose lives can’t be saved. Her coworkers see up to five pets per day who have been intentionally or unintentionally harmed.

But even this veteran Humane Society of North Texas employee was moved to tears when she talked about Fletcher, a big, pretty golden retriever who was brought to the shelter and clinic on East Lancaster Street just weeks from death.

“The first shock was smelling the smell and seeing the flies,” she said Friday, two days after a married couple found the dog near the intersection of Fletcher Avenue and Littlepage Street.

The dog, named after the street where he was found, had a chain embedded an inch deep into his neck. The couple, who did not wish to be identified, removed the chain and wrapped Fletcher’s wound in gauze.

Golightly said she could smell Fletcher from the bed of the couple’s truck parked 10 feet away when she went out shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday to meet him.

“When I took the gauze off, it was rancid,” she said. “It was the worst case I’ve ever seen.”

Fletcher couldn’t stop scratching from a severe flea infection. He was covered in flies, especially around his neck wound. He was emaciated.

His gums are still nearly white due to anemia from flea bites. And his wound didn’t bleed, Golightly said — it was rotting.

Just the anemia and infection combined would be a “death sentence for this dog,” said Cassie Lackey, Humane Society spokeswoman.

“It was heartbreaking to me, because he’s such a sweet boy,” Golightly said. “How could somebody do that?”

Dr. Cynthia Jones, the Humane Society veterinarian, thinks Fletcher had been a stray for around five months.

She thinks he was chained in a yard to a tree and managed to break off his chain, which began the process of embedding the chain in his neck.

Without intervention, Fletcher had maybe another month to six weeks to live, and he would have suffered the entire time, Jones said.

“I think this dog’s been wandering around for some time, looking for help,” she said.

But now?

“I think he’s going to be fine.”

Jones, who estimates Fletcher’s age at three years, took Fletcher after Golightly had prepared him and treated him with painkillers.

“He was ‘talking’ to me, whimpering, but it was like a whimper of ‘thank you so much,’” Golightly said.

In surgery, Jones cut away the dead flesh from Fletcher’s neck wound.

Fletcher also received three pharmaceutical-grade flea treatments in just two days to rid him of the infestation. The floor outside his kennel at the shelter was peppered with dead fleas.

Jones said Fletcher is probably about two weeks away from being ready for adoption, as long as his infection heals properly.

“We’re going to make sure he goes to a very loving home,” Lackey said.

The HSNT receives no state or city funding. The organization is raising funds to support health care for Fletcher and other animals.

This story was originally published September 1, 2018 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Golden retriever with chain embedded in neck moved Humane Society veterans to tears."