Mutul - the miracle chow chow

We received an urgent request to rescue this chow chow that had been left on the roof of an industrial building for over a year. As you can see, this poor boy was left completely exposed to the elements and was not even given a dog house for shelter. His friend (black chow chow) was also spotted in the beginning, but soon disappeared without a trace. We presume he/she didn't make it due to the harsh living conditions.

Some pictures of Mutul before his rescue. As you can see, he was forced to live in his own excrement in what was essentially a prison.

Mutul spent all of his time waiting by the door for his owner, for hours and sometimes days on end. This was the only interaction he got for over a year.

We knew we didn't have much time. News of this animal neglect case was starting to go viral, and we didn't want the owner to catch wind of it and relocate the dog.

But more importantly, we weren't sure if the dog was still alive. We crossed off everything on our calendar for the day and drove to him.

The rescue was dramatic, but successful. We got local authorities including the police, fire department, and Incheon Seo-gu District officials involved. Renamed Mutul, we transferred Mutul to a local vet, where he tested positive for distemper.

As you can imagine, we were heartbroken. We asked for a retest and it came out positive, again. Dogs who test positive for distemper need to be quarantined, but this clinic was not able to admit him. So we drove Mutul to a second vet, where to our pleasant surprise, he tested negative! A second test confirmed the results and we couldn't have been more ecstatic. It's important to note that had Mutul been fetched by animal control, he would have most likely been euthanized.

To make doubly sure that it wasn't a fluke, we drove Mutul to a third vet, where he again tested negative. A wave of relief swept over us but our battle wasn't over yet — Mutul's owner was still his legal guardian, and could come back to claim him.

Mutul was then taken to a larger facility that could help address his serious skin issues. He received mud baths, laser treatments, and massages to facilitate regeneration of his extremely fragile skin.

Our beautiful boy receiving the VIP treatment...

After many days of communicating with Incheon Seo-gu, we finally received the good news that Mutul's owner had given him up. You can imagine this was music to our ears!

Mutul starting to heal...

He is now recuperating at the Four-Legged Friends shelter, where he is continuing to receive treatment for his physical and emotional scars. Once he has healed, he will be ready for his forever home!