Dog with embedded choke chain one of ‘worst cases of cruelty’

The state of the dog, which was delivered to the Banbridge based Doghouse Sanctuary by a horrified member of the public, is described as one of the worst cases of animal cruelty ever witnessed by the charity.

Gillian McFadden, who has been running the sanctuary for around 12 years, said the dog was operated on by a local vet and it is now a case of ‘wait and see’.

“This is definitely one of the worst cases we have seen in our long history of caring for abandoned and neglected dogs,” said Gillian. “The dog arrived emaciated, dehydrated and with a choke chain embedded in its neck which had rotting flesh growing over the wounds.

“The smell of the rotting flesh was terrible and there was pus coming out of the wounds as well as the animal’s ears. Part of its neck flesh had to be cut away and stitched up during the emergency surgery which was carried out on Saturday morning.”

Gillian said the German Shepherd, called Rico and around a year old, was about 10-12 kilos underweight and its coat was in very poor condition. It was discovered by the side of a road in the Newry area.

“The dog is now on antibiotics and painkillers and we are hoping for best best,” Gillian added, “but it is too soon to start thinking about re-homing at this stage.

“We have been absolutely horrified about the state of this poor animal and wanted to highlight its condition,” said Gillian. “It is really unbelievable the way some people treat animals and it is difficult to understand how they can be so cruel.”

The sanctuary is currently busy coping with around 40 dogs and now has the added expense of vets’ bills which could run into hundreds of pounds from this latest incident.

As well as re-homing dogs from the local councils, the group also helps members of the public who are unable to look after their pet, due to marriage break-ups, poverty or the death of an owner.

Anyone who would like further information, can contact Gillian on 406 62460.