As a stray without a home or a family of his own, Oscar was considered an easy target. A living punching bag that no one would miss or care about should something happen. And some monstrous person took full advantage of that by savagely beating him with a sledgehammer.
Our hearts are hurting the more we learn about Oscar’s story. How can he bare to look at us? How can he bare letting us touch him after what humans did to him? When we found Oscar, he was cold and disoriented, and had multiple breaks along his whole body. He was dejected…a broken shell of a dog and we had no idea why. That is, until we discovered that a local person used something like a sledgehammer to beat him. In doing this, the person broke his spine and left him disabled, unable to run away. Then the kicking started. The person didn’t just use tools to hurt Oscar. They used their feet to kick him, resulting in the total breaking of his jaw.
And after all that, the person left and Oscar was unable to move an inch. No one knows how long he spent trying to crawl around helpless and in pain, dragging his back end through the frozen snow but he eventually crawled out to a side of the road, near a bus stop, and collapsed there. Perhaps he made the last desperate attempt to ask humans for help. But no help came. Oscar was laying there for two days, with no food or water until someone took his picture and posted it online for our team to find. He is about 30 lbs underweight, he is emaciated, dehydrated, and feels excruciating pain all over his body because of what that person did to him. He was rushed to the local clinic and there, radiographs showed that he suffered multiple vertebral fractures and breaks to his jaw that can only be corrected through reconstructive surgery. The damage to his spine was too severe and so, Oscar will not be able to use his hind legs ever again.
We know this sounds like a lot but Oscar has a fight in him. He is alive today because he wants to live. At 10 months old, we refuse to let this be the life he knows. We are working closely with medical teams to make him as comfortable as possible before diving into the weeks worth of treatment he’ll need. If you can, please consider donating towards the thousands of dollars it’s going to cost to get this boy right again. We can’t change the past but we can certainly do good for his future.
UPDATE: February 26, 2023
Oscar is Is doing much better! He is making small but confident steps towards his recovery. He is a very busy boy these days – PT, walks outside, massages. All these necessary activities make him tired but he stoically handles every single exercise. We have ordered a wheelchair to help him straighten his back, which he is trying to achieve on his own, but with a wheelchair assistance the progress will be much faster. Due to every day massages, the muscle mass on his hind legs is growing and he is started to use them! Right leg is stronger than the left but we are working on it The surgery scars on a back and the tail are healing well and as soon as his jaw heals completely he will start the water therapy. We can hardly wait to begin it as this will speed up his recovery.
Oscar is a very grateful guy,but like a baby -vulnerable, trusting. He likes to “steal” toys at night and play when no one is watching.
He has a long way to go, still, but with your invaluable support we can provide Oscar with all the tools he needs to walk again. Thank you all so much as always!
