Shelter Finds Skin-Crawling Source of Stray Dog's Discomfort: 'Eaten Alive'

An animal rescue has come to the aid of an adorable stray dog named Paco who was harboring a skin-crawling health condition.

Animal shelters across the United States have witnessed a major influx in the number of new admissions. Earlier this year, Shelter Animals Count, a national database for animal rescues, shelters, and humane societies in the U.S., told CBS News that there were around 250,000 more animals in the shelter system than the year previous.

Some are close to breaking point. According to Whitney Fang, the founder of Hearts & Bones Rescue, a nonprofit foster-based dog rescue, Dallas Animal Services is at 143 percent capacity with over 400 animals in 300 kennels.

Thankfully, organizations like hers are here to help. "Hearts & Bones Rescue is the largest dog transfer partner for Dallas Animal Services in 2024," Fang told Newsweek. "We regularly rescue dogs from the shelter to help avoid euthanasia due to lack of space."

That's how they ended up coming to the rescue of Paco. "Paco was found as a stray in the Dallas area," she said. When Fang first visited him at Dallas Animal Services she could tell that, despite his calm, affectionate demeanor, he was in some discomfort.

She promised him she would return though and stayed true to her word, coming back the very next day, following necessary neuter surgery. It was only during his subsequent "glow-up" that she discovered the source of Paco's discomfort.

Writing alongside a video of Paco shared to TikTok last month under the handle @whitneysdogs, the animal rescuer revealed her new four-legged friend was being "eaten alive" by ticks and had been enduring this for "a very long time" prior to her intervention.

But Fang and her team have been busy changing that in the time since. "Over 100 ticks were pulled off him, he's gotten two anti-flea/tick baths, a good brushing, and we are now working on much needed medical appointments," she said.

Fang is pleased to report that the treatments, while difficult at times, have had a positive effect. "He's certainly feeling much better now," she said. "He has recovered from a neuter infection/hematoma, his ticks are gone, and now he's on an antibiotics course to get through anaplasmosis, which is a tick-borne illness that can be resolved with antibiotics."

In the meantime, Paco has been garnering plenty of attention thanks to the aforementioned TikTok video, which has been watched over 250,000 times.

"He has garnered a lot of interest in his short period of time with us," Fang said. "But isn't available for adoption quite yet while he goes through treatment."

For now, she's focused solely on getting the pup back to full health and continuing the shelter's work in helping dogs find the homes and human companions they so richly deserve.

"Paco is a wonderful dog and we hope that he, and many others like him, will find their forever homes," Fang said.