Gus had a shoelace embedded in his neck. Doggie massages help his swelling go down
The vets who worked to save Gus the rescue dog’s life called his case “the worst” case of animal abuse they’ve ever seen, according to the folks who rescued him from a Houston apartment.
Houston rescue group K-911 Rescue published photos of the deep laceration cutting all the way around Gus’ neck to Facebook on Aug. 29. They didn’t know whether he would make it, after some of the photos in the post show the dog wandering through lanes of traffic on a busy street.
“Dead dog walking,” one woman wrote in another Facebook post as she helped lead rescuers to Gus.
Those rescuers scoured an apartment complex in Houston’s Sunnyside neighborhood for the wounded dog they had seen before and could smell Gus’ wounds before he appeared in the light, they said in the K-911 Rescue Facebook post.
His neck above the wound and his face had swollen severely, and after an X-ray, the rescuers found that he had also been shot repeatedly with a pellet gun.
When they were finally able to trap the terrified pup in pain, Gus was taken to the Texas A&M Small Animal Clinic in College Station, according to KTRK. It’s one of the leading animal hospitals in the state.
Thousands of dollars were raised for Gus’ emergency surgery, according to the Facebook posts.
“He isn’t out of the woods and this next surgery will be the most delicate and worrisome,” Houston K911 Rescue spokeswoman Anna Barbosa told KTRK. “They revised the scar tissue on about two-thirds of the circumference of his neck. They will go back and work on the tissue around his vital veins and arteries.”
Early on, according to the Houston Chronicle, the fear was that the scarring around Gus’ neck would force surgeons to get too close to his carotid artery or his jugular vein.
While he still has surgeries ahead of him, Gus has at least found a new hobby.
He’s found out that he really likes doggie facials, video released by K911 Rescue shows. The massages he’s being given during recovery help reduce the severe facial and neck swelling above the deep laceration in his neck.
He also gets to wear some sweet shades while he gets his doggie massages. For the pup who’s been through so much pain, it’s about time for a little rest and relaxation.
This story was originally published September 6, 2018 at 9:18 AM.