This is the successful rescue story of a toy-breed pet dog named Baby, who was severely brutalized by her wealthy owners in Saigon, Vietnam. The animal rescue group SAR received a call early this morning about an injured dog wandering the streets.

Baby, six years old, is well known in the neighborhood because she and another dog are owned by a wealthy local family. Weighing only 6lb (3kg), Baby was obviously in bad shape, splattered in blood, could barely see, crippled and unable to walk.

Baby, when first spotted by SAR.

SAR captured Baby and before leaving for the vet hospital, team members of SAR spoke to local people who knew the dog’s owners and situation. Baby had recently been thrown onto the street by her wealthy owners, who no longer wanted her.

A number of months ago Baby developed a skin condition called mange, which is very easily treated by a veterinarian. In the eyes of Baby’s owners, a married couple in their 50’s, Baby was no longer beautiful because her fur was mattered and clumpy due to the treatable skin complaint.

Baby being rescued by a SAR team member.[/caption]

They refused to take her to the local veterinarian for treatment, to restore her beauty (and alleviate her suffering.)

Baby’s owners run a successful cooking business with lots of boiling water vats constantly on the go. Fed up with the look of Baby’s skin condition, they submerged Baby in boiling water and boiled her alive!

She screamed in agony, leaped out and ran screaming in pain in the enclosed area. She was caught and submerged again, and again, until her little body was covered in ulcerated blisters from burns, from being repeatedly submerged in boiling water.

Baby was now covered in boiling water burns all over her little body and as infection set in, the ulcerations on one of her hind legs became severely infected and smelled putrid. Her owners still refused to take her to the local veterinarian.

In an act of unspeakable cruelty and barbarism, her owner took the severely injured and suffering dog, held her down and cut her hind leg off with a knife, while she was fully conscious!

Wailing in agony on the top of her little voice, Baby begged for mercy from her owner as the knife slowly sawed through her flesh, breaking bones, tendons and ligaments, as her blood gushed out of the just severed leg.

Once the dog’s leg was cut off, the owner simply waled away and was done. The little dog’s body which was already covered in burns from being repeatedly immersed into boiling water, was losing blood fast and her body was in full shock. She was offered no medical assistance and no pain relief at any time.

On top of everything she has already suffered, Baby was now permanently crippled and unable to walk! She was no longer beautiful so her owners threw her onto the street, and only kept the other dog.

Baby wandered the streets, and amazingly the stump where her leg used to be, began healing over and her ulcerated body began to grow fur again. When SAR rescued Baby, she was obliterated in ticks all over her body and the inside of her ear canals were filled with ticks.

The team members of SAR wept as they cradled Baby and looked at the stump of where her leg used to be, and her previously burned little body. On a very good note, Baby tested negative for distemper at the veterinary clinic, which was excellent news.

At the vet clinic, Baby was washed and all her matted and bloodied fur shaved off and and hundreds of ticks removed from her body. In one week she can be vaccinated to ensure a healthy life.

To signal a new life for her the SAR animal rescue team dressed her in a new red dress, for her arrival to the SAR Foster House, to start her new life as a loved pet. I was unable to look at the photograph without tears streaming down my face.

Although this dog was not in the dog meat trade, she was a pet dog which belonged to a well known wealthy family who could have easily afforded the medicine to cure her skin, but chose not to. To repeatedly submerge the dog in boiling water is shocking, but to then cut her leg off, and without any pain relief or medication is unfathomable!

Sadly, the owners of Baby still have the other dog in their possession, which also has early stages of mange. The owners refused to hand the other dog over, to be removed. The other dog is known to wander the streets but local people know who the dog belongs to and have threatened to physically beat up rescue team members if they approach the dog.

SAR will be monitoring the other dog very closely to work out how to safely bring that dog to safety too. If you would like to help SAR rescue team, their direct PayPal is: [email protected].

UPDATE: the brother dog of the female, the “other” dog, was rescued late last night, by SAR. Both dogs are now reunited in the safety of the SAR Foster House! a true happy ending!

Thank you,

Michele Brown,
Founder