This sweet little pitiful one was found on a busy street, by a relative of a PAL member.  He couldn't see where he was going, as his fur was matted over his eyes!  He was a mess; the worst our rescuer had ever seen except on the TV show "Animal Cops"!!   His eyes were matted shut and when she got them open they were full of goo. His little toenails were so long they curved around his feet.  He had all kinds of debris and poop, etc stuck to his body. Saddest thing ever...  Once she got him trimmed and cleaned up, his skin was in terrible shape; paper thin and bloody in places.   She rushed him to the vet the next morning.  Because he looked so bad, she decided to call him "Handsome." 

The vet said he might have been hit by a car; he had abrasions on his head & leg.  We were afraid the hurt leg was broken, but X-rays revealed that he has no broken bones.  He does have really bad arthritis.  He got medications for his eyes and antibiotics, and pain meds; he also had tapeworms for which he also received medication for. Most of all, it seems he was in need of proper nutrition and grooming.  Almost all of his terrible condition was likely caused by neglect and malnourishment.  We are hopeful that lots of TLC will restore this sweet baby to the condition he should be in.  He has been in our care for less than two weeks now, and he already looks and feels a lot better.  His new foster mom added to his name and he is now "Handsome Grandpa Wellslee," an expression of our hope for him to be well again (he is already handsome to us!!)

On top of everything else, he is heartworm positive!!  X-rays revealed that his heart is enlarged by the heartworms.  In his poor condition, he most likely would not survive the standard treatment to rid him of the heartworms, but if we do not treat him, they may kill him soon anyway.  He is going to need very special and careful treatment to get well, and a rough estimate of total costs (including vet bills already incurred) is up to $1000.