Throughout their careers, animal rescuers encounter a lot of things, many of which can be absolutely heartbreaking. They often find pups living on the streets, in bad homes, or in kill shelters. However, there are a few incidents that are not only sad but also pretty bizarre as well. One such rescue was that of a pup named Ellie Mae. You see, when Ellie Mae had first arrived at the Nebraska Humane Society a few months ago, the staff initially had no idea exactly what they were looking at. That’s because Ellie Mae didn’t even vaguely resemble an actual dog!
As the NEHS explained, the poor pup was discovered by accident after volunteers went to clean out her deceased owner’s home. Much like Ellie, the elderly owner’s home had been neglected for quite a bit of time. The home resembled an episode of “Hoarders” and was just covered with filth from top to bottom. In fact, there was so much junk that Ellie Mae was nearly overlooked. One volunteer said that the pup basically looked like a container of dirty mop heads! But then they saw the pile move a bit. I turned out that the dog was so strangled by her matted fur that she could no longer walk.
That’s when volunteers lifted Ellie Mae and put her in a plastic container to transport her to the humane society as they really wanted to help the poor pup. When volunteers arrived at the shelter, the staff had to work quickly. They had experienced a similar case not long before in which they had to amputate a dog’s leg due to a lack of blood flow. That’s when they decided to put the pup under anesthesia so they could safely insert a breathing tube and begin work.
The shelter workers all started to clip away at the matted mass of fur, which took several volunteers. Once they finished, they could hardly believe the dog underneath the fur.
“As our team clipped away, they found something extraordinary. Ellie Mae’s legs were pink with blood flow. The added matting and length were seven-inch toenails that were cocooned in hair, feces and years of grit,” shelter staff wrote in an update to Twitter.
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Along with the matted fur, the dog had seven-inch toenails that were also wrapped in fur, feces, and years of grime, according to a shelter staff volunteer. When the staff had first brought Ellie Mae into the shelter, she weighed a whopping 20 pounds, but as the staff would soon discover, most of her weight was due to her matted fur, which was full of dirt and feces.
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After cutting off the filthy fur, they found a tiny dog that only weighed 11 pounds!
Workers were amazed by the disgusting mass of foul fur that weighed in at nine pounds! This was without question the worst case of matting they had ever seen.
“Ellie Mae came to the shelter a few weeks ago in extremely rough shape. She was covered in 9 pounds of matted and smelly hair, the worst that we’ve ever seen,” the shelter wrote about the dog in a Facebook post.
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After 5 hours of surgery, Ellie Mae was up and taking her first steps outdoors in what could have been a very long time. And it turns out that Ellie Mae was a real beauty under all of that fur. Shelter workers guessed her to be a Shih Tzu or a mix. Regardless, the pup was once again a recognizable dog again thanks to their efforts.
“We are so sorry this little peanut had to go through such an ordeal, which was likely for an extended period of time. But we are so happy we were here for her and able to give her a second chance! That’s why we do what we do!” Pam Weise exclaims.
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Soon Ellie Mae met Bette Mae, a 91-year-old Omaha woman who would become her new mom.
“Mom said it was love at first sight and that Ellie Mae was the perfect match for her….In no time, she was giving Mom kisses. We feel very fortunate that we were chosen for Ellie Mae because those two were just meant for each other,” excaims Megan Wilson, Bette Mae’s daughter.
We are so happy to see that Ellie Mae’s story had such a wonderful ending. You can watch a special news report on this story in the video below.
