HOUSTON – Houston has a major stray problem, and Laura Forma refuses to turn a blind eye, especially when she saw Gus near Martin Luther King and Selinsky in southeast Houston.
“Once I saw him I immediately pulled over. I tried to get him, but he was not having it. He was not having it at all so from there I just posted a plea on Facebook,” said Forma.
That post on social media sprung animal rights advocates into action.
“I went out that morning and looked for him — could not find him — and throughout the day, several other rescuers were assisting to find this dog,” said Anna Barbosa, president of Houston K911 Rescue.
“They did the hard work in finding out where he would be. We were able to find him rather quickly, I think 10 minutes, we found him in an abandoned apartment,” recalled Robert Acuña.
“His head was swelled probably 3x normal size,” Barbosa commented.
“It wasn’t a collar that was embedded in him, it was a shoelace. Somebody did this on purpose,” Acuña shared.
“It had cut actually through his skin and reached his vital veins and arteries,” Barbosa said.
“This dog was living in an empty room, just dying, when he came out he was apparently being shot by pellets by kids or whoever was doing it, I don’t know,” said Tom Heller.
“This one really hurt. I just don’t understand how someone can do this to them. Even though he went through all this pain, this dog was still wagging his tail with us, that’s what broke me down,” said Acuña.
Because of one Facebook post shared thousands of times, a community of animal advocates have saved Gus from his circumstances. And people from around the country have been donating for Gus’ medical care.
“He is now at Texas A&M Small Animal Clinic. He is at this very moment going into surgery. It’s going to be very tedious and it is going to be dangerous for him. We are worried, but we have confidence A&M will do a wonderful job for him,” said Barbosa.
What everyone wants folks at home to know, is if they see something, say something. Animal abuse is a crime, and there are volunteers ready to spring into action to help make sure no animal has to suffer like Gus did. Get well soon Gus.
