Last spring, a woman spotted an odd-looking creature roaming the streets of Athens, Greece. The animal's skin was completely crusted over. It looked as though it was made of stone.
This creature turned out to be a stray dog. The woman snapped a few photos of the helpless animal and posted it to Facebook, hoping someone would be able to help.
The poor thing had clearly never been treated well by humans before. She was starving and in a great amount of pain. Whenever someone tried to approach her, she would run away. Eventually, however, she became too famished to continue hiding. She was successfully captured and brought in to Save A Greek Stray animal shelter.
The rescuers named her Petra, the Greek word for "stone" and got right to work trying to save the poor, neglected animal.
Scroll down to find out what happened to Petra and let us know what you think of her story in the comments below!
[H/T: The Dodo]
Some readers might find the following content disturbing. If you do not wish to see evidence of this animal neglect, please click back to the LittleThings homepage.
Petra was brought in to the Save A Greek Stray animal shelter in terrible condition.
The poor thing was covered head to toe in mange, dirt, and bugs.
The mange, which left scabs and lesions all over her body, were the cause of her stone-like appearance.
If left untreated, Petra surely would have died.
Rescuers started treatment right away.
Although her pain lessened, her fear of humans remained.
A woman named Valia Orfanidou, who has a lot of experience rehabilitating dogs, came in to assist the shelter.
It became clear that Petra had never known human kindness before now.
"Even dogs in that condition, if they've been around people are more friendly," Orfanidou explained to The Dodo.
"Petra looked like she had never been touched."
Slowly, Petra's fur began to grow back and she started to turn into the healthy and strong dog you see here. Still, she was deathly afraid of her handlers.
"She never wanted to leave her cage; she would hide every time she was approached and growl at the other dogs at the shelter," Orfanidou said.
Orfanidou would not give up on Petra, though.
She knew deep inside, Petra could learn what it meant to be loved by a human.
Each day, Orfanidou would make another attempt to take Petra for a walk and spend time with her.
"She would make three or four steps, and then stop. I'd pull her slightly and then a few more steps," Orfanidou explained.
Finally, after weeks of rehabilitation, Petra began to accept her new human friends.
She became willing to go for walks and actually began to enjoy interactions with humans.
"She started wagging her tail and looking willing to play with us, her toys, and the other dogs," Orfanidou told The Dodo.
Today, you wouldn't even recognize Petra. She looks like a completely different dog and acts like one, too.
She's even ready to be put up for adoption!
We're sure it won't take long for a forever family to scoop her up.
What would you have done if you saw a dog in her condition on the street? Let us know in the comments and don't forget to SHARE with the dog lovers in your life!
