Allison Mayfield said she lay on the floor of her office for hours in tears when she saw what had been done to Nelson, a three-year-old Terrier mix.
“I could NEVER imagine why someone would do that to such a sweet boy,” said Mayfield, chief executive officer at the Humane Society of Northeast Georgia.
Nelson was found a couple of weeks ago in excruciating pain on the side of a road in Jackson County. When rescuers with Jackson County Animal Control discovered the horrific cause of Nelson’s pain, they immediately contacted HSNEGA staff for life-saving help.
“Someone had been very, very cruel to Nelson. They had zip-tied his penis, and by the time Jackson County Animal Services found him it had got necrotic,” said Mayfield.
Thanks to emergency surgery at the University of Georgia Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Mayfield said Nelson is in recovery. However, the procedure needed to save him and give him normal urinary function means it will take weeks, if not months, to urinate without pain and fully recover.
Mayfield said she had never seen a case of animal cruelty as horrible as Nelson's. His story demonstrates the importance of the shelter’s Season of Saves, an annual year-end initiative dedicated to saving lives like his. The goal of this year’s initiative is to raise $55,000.
“What [the initiative] does is it allows us to not say no to animals like Nelson,” said Mayfield. “What this Season of Saves does is it allows us to put money away for special cases, so we never have to say no.”
Those interested in donating to save lives like Nelson’s can visit hsnega.org for a link to donate as part of the Season of Saves. More information about Nelson’s story is also available there, although WARNING: some of the images are graphic.
