A pooch found in the worst state, old Shaggy Boy soon found his retirement home. Many months later, this dog is barely recognisable in the most heartwarming way!
Cape Town, South Africa (14 June 2024) — Earlier this year, an elderly pooch who you’d only need to take one look at (at the time) to understand that he’d been through some serious neglect, made his way to the Animal Welfare Society of South Africa.
Old Shaggy Boy was in a bad way and in some dire need of love, care, medical evaluations and, of course, a haircut.
He and several other animals were rescued from Rocklands in Mitchells Plain. The AWS shared that they were certain that the animals would have perished if their team hadn’t intervened. In fact, only four of the dogs made it. But thanks to people like Animal Care Centre Supervisor Lawrence Nkotha and Adoptions Co-ordinator Shannon-Lee Beukes, the rescued dogs were in caring arms from day one.
The AWS heroes quickly turned things around for Shaggy, giving him a good shave and making sure his teeth got some attention as he suffered from a terrible gum infection. Needless to say, Shags looked like a completely different dog after his first makeover.
In January, the AWS posted a plea on their Facebook page for anyone willing and able to take the older dog into their home. This would essentially be his retirement home, and the AWS was hopeful that it would be filled with all the attention and love he had foregone in the past.
In a very short turnaround time, Shaggy was scooped up by his new mom, Heather. Many months later, Shaggy came back to visit the people who changed his life (the first time) as an almost completely different version of the pooch they once knew!
Fluffy, clean and gorgeous, friends of the AWS could hardly believe that this was the same dog who had stolen their hearts many months before.
Needless to say, Shaggy’s golden years are playing out wonderfully—all thanks to love for an old dog and the willingness to teach him some new loving tricks.
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