Abused stray dog sparks search effort islandwide

According to Animal Rescue Team Taiwan, the dog was found last week by a woman surnamed Li, a resident of Tainan City who was driving to Nantou's Puli Township. She found the black canine behind a parking lot.

“It was badly hurt and showed obvious signs of abuse,” she said. “It had noticeable cuts on its stomach and its eyes were bloodshot.”

Liu said when she tried to approach the dog, it fled, so she resorted to taking a picture of the place where she found it and recorded the exact position using GPS. Liu then reported the incident to the southern Kaohsiung-based animal protection group.

“Once we were notified, we immediately sent out a search party formed by animal rescue volunteers from Taichung and Kaohsiung cities to look for the stray dog,” said Antony Ni, a volunteer and spokesperson of the rescue team.

Residents told the rescue team that they had seen the dog wandering the area for the past month. Several townspeople in Puli also voluntarily joined in the search effort, led by the animal protection organization's founder Joseph Nee. The search went on for two days before the female mutt was found in a mountainous area near Hsian Road Sec. 3.

The dog was immediately rushed to a veterinary hospital in Kaohsiung City, where it was discovered that the canine's eyes had been badly mutilated and its neck had been wrapped with rubber bands apparently months ago. Blood tests further revealed that the dog was anemic.

“Veterinarians said the mutt's condition is still critical; whether or not it's going to survive will be determined in the next week or so,” Ni told The China Post yesterday. “If the dog's condition improves, we will definitely do our best in finding her a new home, especially since she's only about two to three years old,” he added.

“It is definitely heartbreaking that one careless person abused this dog, but what is worth noting is that many more helped save it,” said Renee Chen, another volunteer who drove from northern Taipei County to join in the search and rescue effort. She said she was touched by the goodwill of the people of Puli who showed their love for animals by helping in the search.

“The fact that one dog was able to stir the hearts of residents from northern, central, and southern parts of Taiwan is truly moving,” noted Ni.

Updates on the rescued dog and more information on the animal protection organization can be found online at www.savedogs.org.

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