Scared dog found ‘covered in debris’ gets a second chance. ‘He’s not alone anymore’
A woman was running a late errand when she spotted a “frightened” creature along a dark, busy road.
The animal was Oscar, a dog in such rough shape that it was difficult to know how malnourished he was, a North Carolina shelter said.
“She saw him out of the corner of her eye,” Darci VanderSlik, director of communications for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) of Wake County, told McClatchy News in an email. “She said she couldn’t recognize what type of animal he was at first. He tried to run away, but because he couldn’t move easily, she was able to pick him (up) with a towel.”
After the heartwarming rescue, Oscar got a much-needed grooming session. Photos show he made a dramatic transformation when he finally got his dirty, matted hair cut.
“Oscar has no signs of having an owner,” the shelter wrote Nov. 14 in a Facebook post. “No collar, no microchip, no lost pet flyers or missing posts — it seems he has truly been on his own for a long time. But with a little love from human beings, he’s not alone anymore.”
Oscar got his second chance after he was found one night along Capital Boulevard, a main thoroughfare in Raleigh. The woman who discovered him worked for the SPCA and brought him to safety.
“She put him in a laundry basket in her car and rescued him,” VanderSlik wrote. “He was so matted and covered in debris our staff member didn’t know what kind of dog he was until she was able to cut a clump of the matted hair away from his face.”
Pictures show Oscar was almost recognizable after his haircut, which revealed he was “severely underweight.” The pup, believed to be 4 years old, is now on a journey toward recovery.
As of Nov. 15, the shelter said it didn’t know when Oscar could be available for adoption but plans to share updates. Details about the shelter’s adoption process can be found at spcawake.org.
This story was originally published November 15, 2024 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Scared dog found ‘covered in debris’ gets a second chance. ‘He’s not alone anymore’."
