Skin and bones, every single rib cage poking through.
- Emaciated dog "Sam Sam" rescued on Saturday
- Owners charged with animal abuse
- GoFundMe started to help Sam Sam recover
"She was in a cage, she was obviously under fed, very dehydrated, apparently there was fecal material, urine," said Corey Biesinger, Green Acres Animal Hospital vet.
You don't have to imagine the unspeakable abuse and neglect that “Sam Sam” suffered — you can see it, from cuts on her ears to her tattered tail.
Someone tipped off North Tonawanda Police on Saturday, which sent its dog control officer to check things out.
"Well the dog gets seized and taken for veterinary care and that's currently where the dog is still now and will be for a while," said Eric Sailsbury, North Tonawanda dog control officer.
The owners were charged with animal abuse, and the dog was brought to Green Acres Animal Hospital on Niagara Falls Boulevard.
"The problem with these guys which are going through cachexia — which means that their body is so deficient of nutrition that it starts to break all their muscle stores up — is that they can overwhelm their liver, their organs can shut down, especially if you feed them too quickly and they can go through what's called a re-feeding syndrome, so what we're doing is we have her on her fluids and we're re-hydrating her and we're feeding her little meals progressively more and more until we get her to an ideal body weight over the next couple of days," said Biesinger.
She'll need to spend a few more weeks at the hospital before she's released to her new and loving forever home.
Sam Sam shows no signs of aggression, and despite what she's been through, still finds joy in wagging her tail and spending time on someone's lap.
But first, she must heal.
There's a GoFundMe to cover the cost of medical bills and the response has been overwhelming.
"If it wasn't for the community, this dog wouldn't be alive right now," said Sailsbury.
Already surpassing its $5,000 goal, any leftover money will go back into the emergency fund at Green Acres for abused dogs in need of care.
"It's going to help her, but it's also going to help a lot of other animals in the future so it's just a really nice thing that the community is doing," said Biesinger.