WHAT A SHOCK
When Field Officer Norman Benya responded to a call to collect a dog from nearby Athlone, he was shocked to find a dog so neglected that he was literally more hair than dog. His coat was so matted that this dog carried a solid ball of hair on his side bigger than he was. Matted hair covered the rest of this little body in clumps of various shapes and sizes and fecal matter stuck his tail to the fur on his behind.
There was no end to the tangled fur that restricted his movements to such a degree that walking was difficult for him. His little legs were barely visible
Field Officer Benya brought him directly to the hospital, where the buzzing room fell into silence as staff stopped and stared. Nobody could believe their eyes …. and we thought we had seen everything…….

MANY HANDS TO THE RESCUE
It was soon all hands on deck, to free this little guy from his personal prison. Tackling the massive matt on his side was a priority and it was hard to believe that something that had caused a lifetime of misery was removed in 10 minutes.
BUT THAT WAS JUST THE BEGINNING
There was much work still to do but seeing the newly exposed snow white coat under that massive grey matt was all the encouragement our hospital team needed.
It quickly became clear that this dog had never been to a groomer in his life. Fearful of the clippers around his ears or near his face meant he had to be sedated to enable our team to complete the task at hand.
IT TOOK MORE THAN AN HOUR
Tipping the scales at around 1.6kg’s the knotted and matted hair was finally gone and underneath it a gorgeous little body and face appeared! Meet Boonoonoonoos, Jamaican Patois for Sweetheart – because how could a boy who came in with dreads, not have a name from the Carribean? We call him Boo for short!
GROOMING IS AS IMPORTANT AS VET CARE
A matted coat can progress quickly from causing mild skin irritation to serious wounds. Fleas and ticks can live relatively invisibly in a hair matt, and matts around the hind end can cause an accumulation of faeces that sometimes impedes defecation. Severe hair matts can grow so tightly that they can restrict or cut off blood circulation to the extremities, which can result in the amputation of a limb.
Animals, especially those with long hair, suffer when they aren’t maintained or regularly groomed.

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