Severely abused dog with maggots in ear found in Wyandotte

WYANDOTTE, Mich. (WJBK) - It's a case of animal neglect that brings tears to the eyes of dog lovers in Lincoln Park.

"I was horrified. I was definitely horrified. I was in disbelief that somebody would actually do this to a dog," said Jennesse White with 313 K9 & Kitty Rescue.

The folks with the rescue say after seeing a post on Facebook asking for help, they discovered this abused cocker spaniel in Wyandotte.

"We balled the entire day and afterwards, all night. Couldn't sleep. It's horrific," said Shawn Waeghe, also with 313 K9 & Kitty Rescue.

Spotted near Eureka and Fort Street, they say maggots were found inside the dog's ears with a choke chain embedded in his neck, they say the neglect likely lasted a year.

"There was debris and leaves all matted. His paws -- the nails were turned around. Some of them were stabbing into the bottom of his paws," Waeghe said.

The roughly 8-year-old cocker spaniel they've now named Harvey had hair that was so matted -- at first, they couldn't tell if he was a boy or a girl.

"His back legs were completely matted together, we couldn't see anything," Waeghe said. "He was walking like a penguin basically."

The infection in Harvey's ear was just as devastating. Harvey is now being taken care of at Dix Animal Hospital in Lincoln Park.. He is given antibiotics and daily injections to fight his fever and infections.

"He'll have to have that tumor removed, as well as his entire ear canal and then they're going to have to sew it shut, so he'll be deaf on that side," Waeghe said.

Although obviously in a lot of pain, these folks say Harvey is a sweet boy and hasn't growled or cried. Harvey's surgery is expected to cost roughly $1,700 and the rescue has raised half of that.

"We have an evil side of the community, and then we have a side that angels come and help us.  If it wasn't for the community, we couldn't do this," White said.

Hoping to eventually track down Harvey's owner, right now they say they just want to make sure Harvey gets better.

"He's going to be a great dog. He's going to be very loyal because I think he's been through such a hard time, whoever does adopts him  he's going to love a lot," White said.

CLICK HERE to help Harvey get better.