After having 6 pounds of mats removed (Video)

As an animal lover, such cases always break my heart and/or make my blood boil. There is simply no good excuse for abandoning a vulnerable pet, and it is certainly despicable to purposely hurt one. When officers in San Antonio, Texas, responded to a call about an animal struggling in the middle of a road, they were shocked at what they found. Upon closer inspection, it was clear it was a dog — his gender or breed was impossible to decipher. Officers raced the dog back to San Antonio Animal Care Services, where the medical team went to work.“He had to be sedated for the mats to be safely removed,” saidCynthia Martinez, chief operations officer. “The clinic staff completed the mat removal and reported that they removed 6 pounds of mats.”

The abandoned creature was completely alone and starving. But what they did for him had my heart leap with joy. Under all that tangled and dirty fur was a male cocker spaniel. The vets guessed that the dog was about 8-years-old. Once all the thick matted fur was removed, the cocker spaniel showed sign of relief, as if realizing this was a new beginning. When a local rescue group heard about the situation, they raced to save him.“We had to have this dog,” said Rebecca Payne, of Cocker Spaniel Rescue of Austin and San Antonio. “He is the worst dog I’ve ever seen like that. We wanted to give him a happy life.” Payne drove right over to the shelter to pick him up. “I was shocked. He was so tiny,” she said. “He was so underweight you could see almost every bone in his body. I think the mats were so bad he couldn’t open his mouth to eat.” The rescue named him Hamish and brought him straight to its veterinarian’s office. Payne said the vet believes Hamish most likely lived covered in mats for years, which took a toll on his health.

He was so matted and neglected, no one could determine the animal’s gender

He was malnourished and his nails were badly overgrown. His teeth were in bad shape due to such a lack of food. He spent the next two weeks receiving treatment and having dental surgery in the animal hospital. “Every dog has about 42 teeth,” Payne said. “Hamish had to have so many removed, he has only 11 out of 42 left.” His days of being limited by mats are behind him. He’s eating and gaining weight. He’s improving each day. He even fell in love with another pup Payne is fostering. He is enjoying seeing what the world looks like without matted fur obscuring his eyesight. The rescue team said they are so happy he escaped from the horrible situation he was living in. He has blossomed into an amazing dog. Watch the video, for as much as he’s been through, he’s one of the friendliest dogs we’ve ever had. He’s just so happy.