More dead than alive, Jason was found in a deserted alley in the industrial district of the Bulgarian capital Sofia. The dog's entire body was covered with gaping wounds and he was on the verge of bleeding to death.

A helpful animal lover discovered the sad bundle in the ditch and rushed the poor dog to the nearest vet, who referred it to our FOUR PAWS Stray Animal Care clinic in Bankya. This was Jason's great luck, because our team was no stranger to his injuries.

His deep wounds were spread all over his body, with the area of his hind legs and neck being the most affected. Large parts of the skin and even some of the musculature were missing.

Barely alive, Jason was in severe pain. He had already lost a lot of blood when he arrived at our clinic, and despite all pain and suffering, he looked deep into the eyes of our staff as if pleading for a second chance.

Our team wasn't sure if he would even make it through the night, but they didn't let that stop them and immediately set about stabilising the poor guy as much as possible. The vets gave the young dog several infusions of strong painkillers and antibiotics against the infection that was already setting in. His terrible wounds that covered almost his entire body were cleaned and bandaged.

Sadly, these types of injuries are not entirely new to our Stray Animal Care team in Bankya. They can occur when a dog is attacked by another dog or a whole pack.

The place where Jason was found is known for people going there and abandoning their unwanted pets. It is likely that the poor dog was left completely confused and scared on the side of the road where dogs attacked him. Besides street dogs, some business owners also keep dogs on their premises to deter burglars. If there is not enough food for all the strays or if the dogs have been trained to react aggressively to intruders, the resident dogs try to drive others out of their territory.

When Jason, young and inexperienced on the streets, was looking for food and shelter in an environment that was completely foreign to him, he probably encountered a pack of dogs defending their territory.

The brave young dog was lucky – Jason survived the first, critical days in our stray clinic and slowly his condition started improving. If he had not been rescued, Jason would surely have died in a few days or even hours – alone, in a ditch, in terrible pain and terrified. 

Over the next weeks and months, the clinic team adhered to a strict routine of daily dressing changes and healing creams. In between, of course, pats and small treats were never missed! In order to keep the wounds clean and germ-free, he had to have a lot of fur shaved, but soon, it will grow back even more beautiful.

By August, physically, Jason was doing very well. Almost all of his wounds had completely closed. Only on his neck and on one of his hind legs there are still small open spots because a lot of skin was missing there and maybe there will always be bare patches where the fur will never grow back. We hope that one day a family who will be willing to work with his troubled past, will adopt him and give him a wonderful new life, one that he deserves.

Every year, our Stray Animal Care teams in Eastern Europe treat hundreds of seriously ill or seriously injured cats and dogs that would otherwise die lonely and in great pain. Your donation makes this possible.