# Dog that needs rescue...questions.



## robotcrankit (Aug 21, 2008)

I was at my friend's house the other day, and he lives on a huge property (it's a several acre lot) with three houses on it. His in-laws occupy both of the other houses on the property. One of them ( I think it's his wife's sister) has a dog basically confined to a fenced off area that is very attention starved and neglected.

The dog appears to get adequate food, because it is not emaciated. When I was looking into the area, I couldn't see any water in either of the bowls that was lying in there, so I'm assuming she either drank it or knocked it over somehow.

The poop gets cleaned up (there is a huge bucket of poop right next to a huge bucket of food sitting next to the entrance of the fenced in area). However, there are still an absurd amount of flies present, and the dog has severe fly bites on the tips of both of its ears.

This dog is dirty. It looks like it has never had a bath in its entire life. I know the dog has been locked in there for at least a year (probably longer), because that was the first time I ever saw it. 

Despite all of these things, though, the dog is super friendly. It always runs up to the gate wagging its tail and sticks its nose through the fence for a pat on the head, so it was obviously loved at one point. I don't think it's dog aggressive, either. There used to be another dog locked up with it (who knows what happened to that one), and the owners of this particular dog have another chihuahua mix that lives inside the house. When they walk their smaller dog past the locked up one, the locked up one doesn't snarl or bark or jump at the fence as a dog aggressive dog would (or at least I'm assuming would do).

Anyway, I asked my friend (not the dog's owner) about the situation, and he said that he would not stop me if I tried to take the dog. He doubts that the owner would, either, since they were trying to get rid of it at one point. He said that the dog has also escaped numerous times, and the dog's owners never went looking for it...the dog just came back.

I feel an overwhelming need to take action and make this dog's life better. My mom does not want another dog at all (my second dog died recently), but I think I might be able to talk her into it. If she doesn't want to keep it, at least so I can get the dog cleaned up and in adoptable condition. I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't be a problem getting this dog from the owner.

Anyway, my question is this. Has anyone on here dealt with the fly situation before? This dog's ears are severely bitten (like the tips have been eaten off). I was just wondering if anyone can give me a ballpark figure cost of treating this at a vet. I don't really care how much it costs, I just would like to know so I can asses how much money I might have to set aside in my bank account or possibly borrow from my parents. I already know generally how much vaccinations and a vet visit will cost, and this is the only thing I'm in the dark about.

Thank you, dog forums!


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

It would be great if you could save that poor dog. Try to take steps so that the owners won't just go out and get another outside dog....offer to buy the dog pen, take the buckets off their hands, etc. Anything so that they don't look outside at the empty pen and go "hmmmm....". 

As for the fly strike, the price to treat it will depend on what your vet wants to do. I imagine some vets will want to trim the ears to remove all the dead tissue and do all kinds of things to treat it ($$$$!), and some vets will have a more hands-off approach. My vet would most likely give you antibiotics and some ointment, and it would probably cost about $40 for everything.


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