Police officers were serving eviction notices in a Fort Lauderdale neighborhood when they were told about Bones, who was sitting in a pen outside an abandoned house. According to Tracey Godin, co-founder of Feeling Fine Deliverance in Loxahatchee, Florida, the previous tenants had moved out and left Bones in the pen without any food or water. “The officers asked the children how long the dog had been there, and they said he’d been there for at least a week,” Godin said. However, Bones may have been neglected for even longer.
“For months, he wasn’t properly nourished,” Godin stated. “The last degradation would have passed in the former week.” The police contacted animal control, who took Bones to a nearby sanctuary.
Godin’s friend, who volunteers at the sanctuary, rescued Bones and showed Godin the shocking photos. “It took your breath down,” Godin said. “I didn’t know how he was still alive. Tears immediately came to my eyes.”
The following day, Godin and her son took Bones from the sanctuary and rushed him to the vet. “He couldn’t walk more than five or six feet without falling,” Godin said. “We were in the vet’s parking lot, and he couldn’t support his body weight and just collapsed as he tried to climb up on the sidewalk. I didn’t think he was going to make it.”
“He was 30 pounds, but he should have been 65 pounds,” she continued. “He was dehydrated and anemic,” said the vet. His skull was visible, and there was no muscle mass in his body. “His eyes were sunk into the back of his skull. In my opinion, he wouldn’t have survived another day in that pen.”
Once Bones was well enough to leave the clinic, he went to Feeling Fine Deliverance, which Godin and her son run from their home. To their amazement, Bones quickly recovered. “He gained 10 pounds in a week,” Godin said. “He gained 40 pounds within two weeks. He was 50 pounds two weeks later, and 65 pounds by the weekend. You could see a difference in the dog every day.”
