HElping Animals Rescue Team (Heart)

A STREET dog in Putatan was suffering from severe mange. Her skin had become hard like stone from the mange and she was emaciated.

It’s almost impossible to spot her at first but you’ll soon see that this gravelly mound is a dog in the desperate grip of mange. This eight-month-old dog was so sick her faced turned to stone.

Many have either seen or heard something described as “mangy.” From a living creature to an old jacket, it can carry some profoundly negative connotations.

Often, “mangy mutt” describes a dog who appears lost at sea, with what looks like stone skin.

Mange is skin diseases brought on by mites, affecting not only animals but also humans. It can be a serious condition accompanied by patchy, itchy, hairless, crusty, infected spots about the body.

Whether you have firsthand experience with it or are reading up on it now, hundred or thousand of homeless/stray animals in Sabah suffer this visibly unpleasant condition every year.

When Heart heard about a stray dog suffering from severe mange and dermatitis herpetiformis, we knew we had to help the poor dog.

However, nothing could have prepared us for her horrible health. She’d lost most of her fur, leaving her with dry, flaky skin that had become infected and scabby.

When Heart came to take her from the streets outside Putatan, after one woman called us, the dog made it almost impossible to approach her. Scared, she would run away at the sight of people coming too close.

This homeless /street dog wandered through the streets looking for food and looking for shelter, but her body spoke to the misery of life as a homeless dog.

She was severely emaciated with a face that had been turned to stone by mange. Her body was riddled with parasites eating away at her skin and she was starving to death.

The dog was keeping a distance from people and nobody wanted to be near her because of her mangy body and foul smell. She spent a good while under a car or a tree. She was in bad shape. Our hearts sunk.

When the we set eyes on the dog, our hearts broke. She had some open lacerations on her face and neck, and was pretty much devoid of any hair. It was sad.

It’s always sad to see them like this. Generally, it’s more debilitating than fatal, but in certain situations if left untreated, demodex mange can be deadly.

This homeless dog was found in Kampung Ketiau, Putatan. She’s sleeping outside on the streets, scounging for scraps and slowly dying.

Despite her terrible condition, she was alert and timid. Pearl, whom she’s come to be called by Heart had severe mange, caused by parasitic mites that leads to itching and hair loss, had left the neglected canine thin and dying of hunger.