A veterinarian at St. Frances Animal Center told staff members not to get attached to a sick puppy that came to the shelter last year, because it wasn't clear whether the neglected animal would survive.

"He was so sick. He didn't make any noise or come out of his crate," said Debbie Clement, office manager at St. Frances Animal Center in Georgetown.

   (Photo courtesy of Janet Blackmon Morgan/The Sun News)  Dawson has his left eye. Dawson has love to give, Debbie Clement says while holding him at St. Frances Animal Center in Georgetown on March 17, 2010. "I'm fostering him, and it's really going to ..." her voice trails off for a few seconds as she clears her throat. "It's going to break my heart when he goes, but he's going to find a great home out there. He's got so much love to give. All this bad stuff has happened to him, but he has so much love in him."

After about a week, Dawson, an emaciated, bloated Shih Tzu, who had a skin infection and injured eye, exited the crate.

"That's how we knew he was better," said Clement, who is Dawson's foster mom. "He finally got out of his crate and walked down the hall into my office."

Dawson is one of several abused and/or neglected animals that the shelter has seen. Shelter officials say Dawson's injuries were the result of pure neglect.

"As social as he is with people, he had a family that did that to him," center manager Shannon Prouty said of the pup.

Dawson, was brought in two days before New Year's Day after a woman found him on the curb in Georgetown walking into the street.   He was blind, said Prouty, who said Dawson's right eye had to be removed because it was infected from injury. His surgery was Feb. 1. 2009

Reference:

The Sun News