Dog News

FOUR Pounds of Fur Shaved from Dog Who Couldn’t Walk

by Melanie

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An extremely neglected dog has been found and rescued from an abandoned house in Lindenhurst, New York.  The matting and claw growth on Ziggy was so severe that he could only kind of hop about.  Four pounds of his fur was shaved off, and now he is learning how to walk normally again.

A $2,000 reward is being offered to find the person responsible for leaving Ziggy in such an atrocious condition.  Not only did they abandon him at the vacant house, but they allowed his fur and claws to grow so long that he could no longer walk.

Neighbors said tenants had last lived there a year ago, but they didn’t believe the dog has been there that long.  They had never seen the former occupants with the dog, and believe someone dumped him there.

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The dog was brought to the Babylon Animal Shelter to be cleaned up.  Director Chris Elton said it was the worst case of matting they had ever seen.  Ziggy was smelly, and in a lot of pain from the hairs tugging on his skin, but after three hours, his fur and claws were finally down to manageable lengths.

“Lots of news happening tonight, now that the Suffolk-County Spca has offered a large reward for information to hold someone responsible for the suffering that our new friend Ziggy has endured for likely many years,” Babylon said on their Facebook page.  “At the Babylon Animal Shelter we may have done the nitty gritty when it took two staff members three hours late into the evening with simultaneous clippers going to get the job done. But, we have to say THANK YOU to Detective Caracci for stepping to the plate and coming to bat for us even after he was off the clock when we made the call. I am pretty sure that he felt as amazed as we did witnessing the new Ziggy emerge as we worked hard to end his suffering. Many thanks to the Veterinarians and staff at New York Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center.

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“We were incredibly disappointed after freeing Ziggy from his suffering, only to find that he was still unable to walk due to the distress his body had endured for such a long period of time,” Babylon said.  “But after visiting with him today, we were ecstatic to see what an amazing job they have done with his physical therapy and he was even able to get up to a little trot today!”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Suffolk County SPCA at 631-382-7722.

He will also likely be needing a home soon, so if you are interested, please click here.