HOUSTON – A brutally battered dog that won the hearts of many Houstonians underwent surgery Friday at Texas A&M's small animal hospital.
According to the K-911 Rescue Facebook page, Gus is resting and is on heavy pain medication. K-911 Rescue says he lost a large amount of blood during the surgery, but the good news is he is receiving a blood transfusion, and most of the scar tissue on his neck has been removed.
Animal rescuers found Gus Wednesday night at a southeast Houston apartment complex. He had a severely swollen head and an open tissue wound on his neck.
The rescuers took Gus to the Vergi animal hospital in Houston where x-rays show at least 25 pellet wounds, with some pellets still lodged in him.
They made the decision to transfer Gus to A&M where he can be treated by soft tissue specialists.
Surgeons at A&M began removing scar tissue from his neck Friday afternoon. It's a tricky surgery because the scar tissue is so close to his carotid artery and jugular vein.
After the surgery, Gus will face a long road ahead but, despite his forlorn look, he seems to have an amazing will to live.
Neighbors at the apartment complex said they'd seen him walking around with a swollen head for more than a year. It's not clear why no one tried to get help.
Anna Barbosa with K-911 Rescue agreed to take custody of Gus. She said these kinds of cases happen far too often.
“For however long, nobody did anything for him and he got to that condition,” Barbosa said.
Simply spreading the word brought Gus out of the shadows and into a place he could eventually call home.
Houston K-911 Rescue needs help with Gus’s medical bills.
ALSO READ: How you can help this poor dog
Donations can be made on their website or you can call VERGI, the animal hospital, and make donations directly for Gus. Their number is 713-932-9589.
More than $15,000 has been raised but they expect the vet bills to reach over $20,000.
Donations are tax deductible.