SPRING, Texas – They have the faces of angels, but they have already lived through so much pain. Twenty-six abused and neglected dogs have been rescued and brought to Spring to be nursed back to health.
"Oh, they are thin, they have lots of skin issues, a lot of ear infections, and a lot of the males have been fighting. They have a lot of bite wounds on these puppies," said Veterinarian Sharon Anderson.
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Now, inside a small kennel in Spring run by the Boston Terrier Rescue Of Greater Houston, volunteers are busy bathing the dogs, giving them medicine to kill heart worms, treating their ears for infections and insect bites and clipping their long nails.
Some of the pups are in worse shape and will require antibiotics to cure infections of the mouth and skin. Others are severely dehydrated and need intravenous fluid replacement.
Outside on a folding table, volunteers take notes on every animal and will give each of the dogs a new name. The names all come from Hollywood movie stars.
"How about Judy Garland?" one woman said.
One of the most serious cases involves Rita, a 5-year-old female, named after Rita Hayworth. She will have to have about half her teeth removed because of a bad mouth infection.
But overall, Anderson said most of the dogs will recover very quickly and be ready for adoption soon.
"Out of this group, they are all pretty sweet. Some of the younger ones are just frightened to death and are still shaking," Anderson said.