Homeless Dog's Matted Coat Hid Just How Hurt She Really Was

She's a completely different dog now

After living on the streets, Sparrow eventually found her way into an apartment complex and decided to hang out there for a while. The dirty, incredibly matted dog was limping and clearly injured, and after noticing her a few times, residents decided to call for help

Hope for Paws responded to the call about Sparrow and drove out to the apartment complex to try and help her. When rescuers arrived, they attempted to secure the area so that the little dog couldn’t run away from them when they approached her … 

injured dog rescued
Hope for Paws

… but as soon as they spotted her, they quickly realized that wasn’t going to be a problem. Despite all the pain she was in, Sparrow was SO excited to see her rescuers, mainly because of the food they were holding. The poor dog was absolutely starving, and eagerly took everything her rescuers offered to her. 

injured dog rescued
Hope for Paws

After feeding her for a bit, rescuers tried to slip a leash over her … 

injured dog rescued
Hope for Paws

… but the little dog got spooked, and she retreated under a chair. Rescuers could see how badly Sparrow was limping, and knew they needed to get her to the vet as quickly as possible. They began offering her food again, and while she was eating and distracted … 

injured dog rescued
Hope for Paws

… they were finally able to slip a leash around her, ensuring that she was safe. 

injured dog rescued
Hope for Paws

As soon as Sparrow was secured, rescuers gently picked her up and rushed her to the vet. Sparrow went with them calmly, and seemed to realize that she was finally going to get the help she so desperately needed. 

injured dog rescued
Hope for Paws

It was clear that Sparrow was injured, but because of how badly matted she was, it was hard to tell exactly what her injuries were or where on her body they were located. Doctors began to shave Sparrow down to try and uncover her injuries … 

injured dog rescued
Hope for Paws

… and found that not only did she have a very badly broken leg, she also had a huge tumor on her ear, as well as a few other small tumors. 

injured dog rescued
Hope for Paws

Luckily the tumor was benign, but carrying such a large tumor around on top of having a broken leg was likely causing poor Sparrow a lot of pain, and her rescuers were shocked that she was able to survive on the streets in her condition. Despite all the pain she was in, though, Sparrow calmly allowed the vets to examine her, and was probably hoping that they would be the ones to finally make all the pain go away. 

Sparrow underwent surgery to fix her broken leg and remove all of the tumors on her body. The surgery went incredibly well and all of Sparrow’s injuries were fixed with no issues … 

injured dog rescued
Hope for Paws

… and within a few days, Sparrow was already a completely different dog. Her pain was gone, and she could finally live her life like a typical, happy dog.

injured dog rescued
Hope for Paws

A few weeks later, Sparrow found her forever family and is now living out her happily ever after. She’s white, fluffy and healthy now, and looks so different from the dirty, matted dog she was when rescuers first found her. She no longer has a limp and can run as fast and as far as she wants, all thanks to the rescuers who took the time to save her life. 

injured dog rescued
Hope for Paws

Watch the full video of Sparrow's rescue below: