Thanks to an amazing group of animal rescuers in Kentucky and Ohio, a huge weight has been lifted off Clyde the dog’s chest — 6.4 pounds to be exact.
Clyde’s owner dropped the 1-year-old dog off at a Kentucky animal shelter, requested he be put down and walked away.
“He seemed like a happy dog,” Gallatin County Animal Shelter employee Kayla Nunn told TODAY. “He was really underweight. You would think he’d be scared and have no energy. He was happy to see everybody. He didn’t care if you touched his tumor.”
Clyde was supposed to be euthanized the day he came in.
But seeing the life the young dog had to give, Nunn said she asked for three days to find him a shelter. After she got in touch with another shelter’s rescue coordinator, Clyde had a new home in four hours.
Hart Animal Rescue of Cincinnati, Ohio, happily took Clyde in.
“Because he’s only a year old, that is way too young for a death sentence,” said Katie Goodpaster, the lead intake coordinator at HART. “He was very kind. He was sweet. He just seemed to be happy to get loved on.”
Clyde came in with a 12-inch-long tumor weighing over 6 pounds. It was so big the dog couldn’t but drag it on the ground, so it was ruptured and bloodied.
“We are a little bit more inclined to take on some of the harder medical cases,” said Goodpaster. “This year we’ve taken on a couple leg amputations from owners beating their dogs.”
As for Clyde, he went for surgery the next day at County Animal Hospital in Mason, Ohio.
“He was starving,” said County Animal Hospital employee Nancy Fairbanks. “I split the bowl up in two so he wouldn’t eat too much.”
It took two hours for Dr. Gary Smith and his team to perform surgery, and it was a complete success. Just days after receiving a death sentence, Clyde is now on his way to recovery.
“He’s up walking around,” said Goodpaster. “He won’t sit still. He’s walking around outside. He wants to play. He seems like a whole new dog.”
According to Goodpaster, Clyde is still at the animal hospital, but once he has a clean bill of health he’ll go to a foster home. Hart Animal Rescue has more information on Clyde and how to donate to his care.
The tumor is now headed to a lab for biopsy, and Clyde will be neutered once he’s recovered from surgery, according to Goodpaster. Then the lovable pup can hopefully find a permanent home.