No one dared to get close to the “werewolf” that was seen lurking along the side of the road for months. That is until a stranger stopped and found out the unimaginable truth.
“Werewolf” was how onlookers described the frightening and dangerous looking animal that was seen standing at the side of the road near a California orchard for several months. Hunched over, balding, getting skinnier by the day, and completely alone with hard, scaly skin and a pointy, broken tail, the animal bearing tattered black fur that stood straight up on its neck did indeed look beastly.
No one dared to approach it simply because they were unsure of what it was and were too afraid to get close enough to find out. Sadly, the only thing anyone knew about the strange creature was that its intimidating appearance certainly didn’t encourage anyone to go near it. Finally, a resident of the Madera Ranchos area decided that enough was enough, and it was time to do something about the strange creature that had been hanging around the local orchard.
When a passerby saw the animal that was so malnourished that it could barely walk, she knew it was in dire need of help. So, the woman wrote a quick post about it on Facebook from her car. Then, she waited nearby until help arrived. Thankfully, animal hero Megan Bowe answered the call, hurrying to the scene to rescue the abandoned beast that no one else dared to get close to. That’s when she realized the unimaginable truth behind the “werewolf.”
“I was about ready to cry when I saw how bad off he was,” Megan, who happens to be the founder of Bowe’s Adoptable Rescued Pups, told The Dodo. “He was really on his last leg. He was depressed and could barely even stand up.” This wasn’t a “werewolf” at all. It was a very sick and neglected male German shepherd mix, who likely hadn’t eaten a meal in weeks.
After giving the dog, who she dubbed King, some quick roadside care, he seemed relieved to finally get help. So, Megan put a willing King in her car and drove him to an emergency veterinary clinic. There, the veterinarian discovered a slew of diseases and injuries, including scabies, a broken pelvis, and a broken tail. Shockingly, although he looked quite aged, King was just a year old.
“My vet thinks he got hit by a car, and that would explain how his tail was so messed up, too,” Megan said. “That injury happened months ago because, by the time I got him, it had already started to heal incorrectly. And with such a damaged pelvis, he wasn’t able to get around very far on his own to look for food, so he was extremely skinny and dehydrated.”
Because some of King’s conditions were contagious, such as mange and scabies, Megan quarantined him in her garage, where he could heal without infecting the other animals in her care. There, she started King on small amounts of food, gradually increasing the portions to help him regain his weight and strength at a steady pace. King would need all the strength he could get, too, because his pelvis, hip, and tail needed to be operated on.
Finally, about a month into his treatment, King’s condition began to dramatically improve, and he was finally well enough to have surgery. Thankfully, the operation was a success, allowing King to enjoy daily walks to strengthen his legs per vet’s orders. Unfortunately, the road to recovery is long, and King still has a ways to go. He might even need his other hip operated on once he’s fully recovered from his first surgery.
Although the journey has been long and it’s not over yet, King’s progress has already made his situation look much brighter than it was when he was the scary “werewolf” lurking along the side of the road that people feared. In fact, Megan anticipates that after a few more months of recovery, that once frightening beast will be ready to be someone’s pet.
“He’s a super loving dog,” Megan said of King, who leans his head on her when she sits down as if he’s giving her a hug. “He has been so calm and relaxed through everything.” But, until he’s available for adoption, I’m sure King will continue enjoying his new life with Megan, which includes plenty of treats, walks, snuggles, and riding in the car with the windows down.
“He is happier than ever now,” according to Megan, and it’s easy to understand why. Although she can’t understand how people could let King stand by the side of the road, sick and malnourished, it’s easy for us to see that she is a special person and a guardian angel for this pup in particular. “It’s hard to think that all those cars passed him by and never stopped. No one wanted to bring him home or help him because he looked so bad … But all it took was one person,” Megan said.
Megan and King’s story proves that sometimes the difference between a coward and a hero is just one step. Kudos to Megan and all the other animal-lovers who refuse to look the other way when animals are mistreated or neglected. Now, King will have the good life that every dog deserves because one person decided to do something rather than look the other way — even when the situation looked scary.
