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SPCA staff are appalled by the state of an emaciated dog found locked in a vacated Auckland house.
A Housing New Zealand employee found the starving animal locked in a room inside a house a tenant had left a week before.
The dog, which had been severely mistreated before it was abandoned, was so disfigured that its breed could not be identified, SPCA inspector Vicki Border said.
"We are guessing he may be a shar pei cross. He has hardly any hair left on his body, he has bleeding and weeping sores all over him and his eyes are closed with pus."
Despite being mistreated for a long time, the dog still had the utmost trust in humans, she said.
"While he couldn't stand and could barely crawl, he still tried to come to me and feebly wagged his tail."
SPCA staff, who want to see the owner prosecuted, are not sure if the dog will live. They have named it Job, after the biblical character who was tormented by God but never lost his faith.
- NZPA
