Blinded by neglect? Puppy found wandering Calgary streets in extreme pain rescued by kind soul

• Warning: This story contains an image that may be disturbing to some people.

An eight-week-old puppy in extreme pain from an untreated congenital issue affecting both eyes was found wandering the streets of a southeast Calgary community until a resident took him to a vet, where both eyes had to be removed.

Brad Nichols of the Calgary Humane Society said one of the terrier puppy's eyes had already ruptured when he was found wandering in the 2400 block of 43rd Street S.E. in Forest Lawn on June 1, and the second eye was just about to rupture as well.

"It was very clear, obvious to a reasonable person, that it required veterinary care," Nichols said. "This dog was in a whole lot of pain up until surgery."

And care is what the little guy got, after a resident dropped him off at a veterinary clinic.

Suffering could have been mitigated

Nichols says it appears the dog had a genetic condition that caused the problem for its eyes. Both were removed in surgery.

"The symptoms would have occurred over time, but not a great amount of time, obviously, because it's only about an eight-week-old puppy. As time wore on, any reasonable pet owner would have seen that the animal needed veterinary care and its suffering certainly could have been mitigated."

Officials want to know how the puppy ended up wandering the streets.

"It was a very young dog that was fairly unlikely to wander in an area it is not familiar with, so we are also looking at the possibility it was dumped," Nichols said.

In a safe place now

A silver lining could be the puppy's age.

"He does have an ability to acclimatize from a young age, so he will probably do better than a dog that is years old that has had sight."

He's currently in a foster home. "The dog is in a safe place now," Nichols said.

"He's in a foster home where he can start getting used to life without sight and I have no doubt he will find a fantastic home when that time comes."

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Calgary Humane Society at 403-205-4455 or online.