At less than a year old, Prudence has been through a lot in her life.
The Doberman puppy was dropped off at a veterinary clinic in December by a passerby who had found her on the side of the road, close to death.
The brown-and-black pup was starving, emaciated and suffering from a serious case of demodectic mange – a mite infestation.
She also weighed in at just 28 pounds, when the average Doberman of her age would weigh 40 pounds.
“She was in pretty horrific condition, but still alive,” says Kim Marosevich, animal care and control manager at the Surrey Animal Resource Centre. “So they contacted the shelter and we began treatment with her.”
Marosevich says none of the health issues were life-threatening on their own, but the extent of the neglect left Prudence severely malnourished with open sores and almost no hair left on her body.
“If she had just received the basic necessities of life right from the beginning, she wouldn’t have suffered from any of those things,” says Marosevich. “When they are allowed to deteriorate to that point, it really does become a life-or-death situation for that animal.”
After a story was published in the Leader, members of the community started reaching out with hopes of saving the dog – named Prudence by the animal centre’s staff after The Beatles’ song Dear Prudence.
Soon Prudence was taken in by a woman in the dog care industry who was able to look after her, give her medicated baths and weekly visits to the vet, as well as ensure that Prudence got back to a healthy body weight.
After more than three months in foster care, Prudence has grown almost all of her coat back and was barely recognizable from the shaking, scared, little puppy that was dropped off at the vet clinic in December.
Marosevich says that aside from Prudence being a little smaller than average due to being malnourished during her early growing months, the difference is “night and day.”
After a couple of meet-and-greet visits, Prudence was adopted by a dog care professional from the North Shore who will be able to properly care for her.
“It’s hard to recognize her,” says Marosevich. “For her new mom, nobody will ever have any idea how she looked and what kind of condition she was in when she showed up here. They’ll see a normal, happy, healthy, well-socialized, well-trained dog. It’s a complete 180.”
Marosevich says outcomes like this one make all the other difficult parts of her job much easier to bear and she feels confident Prudence has a bright future.
“From this point forward, it’s all blue skies.”