KEY POINTS:
The dog found in an emaciated state in a vacated Auckland house late last month is off the critical list and still has a wag in his tail.
A Housing New Zealand employee found the starving animal, which the SPCA named Job, locked in a room inside a house a tenant had left a week before.
The dog had been severely mistreated before he was abandoned and was so disfigured with hair loss and bleeding and weeping sores that the SPCA had difficulty identifying his breed.
SPCA chief executive Bob Kerridge said Job was on the mend.
"If I were working in a hospital I wouldn't put him on the critical list any more," he said.
"I would certainly say he was still under serious supervision."
Mr Kerridge said it was too early to consider adoptions for the dog.
Since Job's story was published, around $5000 had been donated in almost equal measures to a care fund and a prosecution fund, he said.
A limited edition signed All Black shirt was being auctioned online from this week for the cause.
"The tail is wagging just a little bit more than it was before and he's certainly enjoying the company of people," said Mr Kerridge.
"The faith is still there, which is what it's all about.
"That's what animals teach us of course, isn't it? Faith and a bit of forgiveness."
