A woman in the Philippines took some extraordinary photos of an abused, mange-infested, and malnourished dog, whom she nursed back to health after adopting him.
His physical and emotional transformation is amazing.
Abigail Corañez, 28, rescued Norkis, an 8-year-old mixed-breed dog, who was living in a cage, horribly neglected, sick, and starving.
Norkis’s owner rarely fed him and had allowed mange to spread all over the dog’s body, leaving him with little more than a few patches of fur.
Abigail saw the pitiful pup in May and immediately asked his owner if she could take him away and care for him.
The owner agreed, so Abigail collected the frightened, skeletal canine and took him to her home.
“His owner was curious why I even wanted the dog, he said he was going to die soon,” said Abigail, a clothing retailer from Pampanga.
In photos taken early in Norkis’s adoption, he can be seen weakly crawling around and meekly accepting food; now he has a filled-in coat of fur and a bright smile.
“My partner and I have been rescuing strays for about five years now,” said Abigail, who currently cares for 12 dogs and over 40 cats. “We do this a lot.
“On Norkis’s rescue day, I isolated him in a small house beside my home because I wasn’t sure how he’d react to our other dogs.
“I was a bit nervous about taking care of him. I went to the vet and asked what medication to give him and got some medical shampoo.
“He was isolated for almost a month and I’d fed him five times per day with some dry food and I gave him vitamins.
“At the time, he had mange and severe malnutrition.”
While it took some time for Norkis to warm up to Abigail, the ailing pup softened once he realized she was there to take care of him.
“He was scared of me at first, but only because he had been neglected so badly, he was so skinny and weak,” she said.
“After I started giving him food, he welcomed me and didn’t bark at me.”
Norkis is now as happy and affectionate as a puppy, and he loves to play with Abigail’s pack of joyful rescue dogs.
“He’s adjusted really fast. He gets along with my other dogs now that I’ve let him out of that small house," she added.
“He is still taking some medication, but he’s so much happier and healthier.”
