Vets caring for a cruelly neglected dog have cut nearly four pounds of matted fur from its body – including ‘flipper feet’.
Marley, a 12-year-old Shih-tzu cross, was found by a member of the public. The poor little dog was swamped by its own matted fur, with one ‘dreadlock’ that was 10 inches long growing from the fur on his tail.
His overgrown nails were four inches long and the matted fur on his feet had formed huge “flippers”.
He was discovered by a member of the public near Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, last Thursday, and rushed to RSPCA Brent Knoll Animal Centre for urgent care.
He was then taken to a vet, who quickly began the difficult take of cutting and shaving 1.68kg of matted fur from Marley.
Marley could barely walk or even see due to the mass of urine soaked fur (Image: RSPCA /SWNS.COM)
RSPCA Animal Welfare Officer Alison Sparkes, who is investigating for the animal charity, said: “The [clumps of fur] were all soaked in urine and all of his feet had huge flippers of overgrown fur on them.
“The front feet had twisted overgrown nails which were 10cm long and caught up in the matted fur, which the vet said would have caused intense pain.
“His tail also had a ‘dreadlock’ of fur which was 25cm long trailing from the end.”
Alison added: “We really want to find the person who is responsible for allowing Marley to get in such a horrendous condition.
“It would have taken months for him to get like this, and he would have been in tremendous pain because of his matted fur and overgrown nails.
“If anyone recognises Marley or knows where he has come from, I would urge them to contact us in confidence on the RSPCA appeal line on 0300 123 8018.
The RSPCA are now looking for the person who allowed Marley to get into such a terrible state (Image: RSPCA /SWNS.COM)
She continued: “He is microchipped, so we know his name, age and that he is a Shih-tzu cross Yorkshire terrier.
“But the information is not up to date so we’re struggling to find out more about who may have recently owned or cared for him,” she said.
