{"id":1250,"date":"2024-04-27T19:51:42","date_gmt":"2024-04-27T19:51:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/?p=1250"},"modified":"2024-04-27T19:51:42","modified_gmt":"2024-04-27T19:51:42","slug":"shelter-rescues-neglected-dog-covered-in-three-pounds-of-matted-fur-he-looks-completely-different-after-makeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/?p=1250","title":{"rendered":"Shelter rescues neglected dog covered in three pounds of matted fur \u2014 he looks completely different after makeover"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Many stray and neglected dogs go ungroomed, causing them distress as their fur becomes tangled and matted. But a haircut can make all the difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That was the case recently, after one dog covered in severely matted fur got a makeover that&#8217;s given him a new lease on life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On July 16, the South Plains SPCA shared a post about the &#8220;worst case of dog neglect we have ever encountered.&#8221; A 6-year-old dog was covered in extremely matted, thick fur, and was in poor shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"799\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IMG_2391-799x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1251\" srcset=\"https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IMG_2391-799x1024.jpeg 799w, https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IMG_2391-234x300.jpeg 234w, https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IMG_2391-768x984.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IMG_2391.jpeg 1148w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The dog has rotten skin spots, hair matted to the skin so bad it is in grown into the skin, the nails are 2 inches long,&#8221; the SPCA reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"570\" src=\"https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IMG_2390-1024x570.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1252\" srcset=\"https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IMG_2390-1024x570.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IMG_2390-300x167.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IMG_2390-768x427.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IMG_2390.jpeg 1145w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;His hair growth was about five years of matting&#8221;&#8221; said Kim Moyers, president of the South Plains SPCA, told KLBK-TV. &#8220;It&#8217;s just awful that he was probably seen in different places and overlooked. I don&#8217;t see how he hasn&#8217;t been seen roaming in the condition he was. I&#8217;ve never seen anything like him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was shocking.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Matt reportedly yelped with pain every time they tried to cut his hair, so they had to sedate him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They cut through a collar and leash that was embedded in the hair, and shaved off a whopping three pounds of fur \u2014 the result of five years of neglect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;There were thousands of goathead stickers, sticks, grass and even beetles matted in his fur. He has severe bruises on his body from his fur being tight on his skin,&#8221; the SPCA wrote. The dog was anemic and placed on medication, though he was found to be heartworm negative and free of tick disease (as ticks couldn&#8217;t have gotten through his thick fur.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Matt still has a lengthy road of recovery ahead, and he will need dental work once his blood work<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>indicates that it&#8217;s safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But after removing all that gross fur, Matt&#8217;s life has already changed in a huge way and he&#8217;s looking like a whole new dog:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;After we had one of our professional groomers &#8211; who&#8217;s also an SPCA foster &#8211; groom him, he looked amazing,&#8221; Houston told People. &#8220;He is the most gorgeous-looking dog l&#8217;ve ever seen. He&#8217;s just drop-dead gorgeous.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The SPCA said Matt was a &#8220;sweet boy&#8221; after waking up from his grooming, and since then he&#8217;s been getting a taste of a happy, normal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;He went for his very first walk without his bulk of hair in probably five years,&#8221; Houston told KLBK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;His little bottom was just going back and forth tail was wagging and he was so happy.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Matt is currently being fostered by Tori Houston, and will be placed up for adoption once he has recovered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What a stunning transformation! It&#8217;s heartbreaking that Matt was neglected for so long and suffered with all that matted fur on him, but were glad he&#8217;s finally safe, groomed and on his way to a new life!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please share this incredible story!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many stray and neglected dogs go ungroomed, causing them distress as their fur becomes tangled and matted. But a haircut can make all the difference. That was&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1250"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1253,"href":"https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1250\/revisions\/1253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinenews92.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}