Dogs bring incredible joy to our world. A world without dogs would be grim and a not very nice world to live in.
Yet, these beautiful, sweet, and innocent creatures are still mistreated.
It’s why people say “We don’t deserve dogs.” When you take a look at a dog like Julian you might agree.
But then we see people like Valia Orfanidou who work with Save a Greek Stray, an organization that tries to prevent animals from being mistreated.
They took great care of the 13-year-old Julian who was found to be completely matted with hair after years of neglect.
Julian was found after he was left to fend for himself on the sidewalk when his elderly owner passed away.
Poor Julian was so thickly matted that it was difficult for him to move. He also suffers from cataracts, is partially deaf, and has a heart condition.
But Julian still has a lot of life in him. And Julian’s rescuers wanted to make sure he lived the rest of his life in comfort and happiness.
First, they had to get him cleaned up. Poor Julian was covered in filth. The senior dog’s coat was matted with dirt and poop.
There were even giant bugs living inside the clumps of hair. You couldn’t even make out the dog’s face.
It was almost unimaginable how awful his condition was.
It’s unclear how long he had been in that condition.
But it took about four hours to remove Julian’s heavy fur coat.
You could not believe how much fur was removed from this poor sweet pup.
It’s like he was in a fur cage or a tiny pup stuck in a bigger dog’s body.
People passing through the clinic where Julian was groomed kept asking what the clump of fur was.
They didn’t even realize it was a dog since you couldn’t see his face well.
But the staff at Save a Greek Stray was able to get him nice and cleaned up.
“It was very fulfilling to finally be able to be able to finally hug him and pet him and spoil him,” Orfanidou, who documented Julian’s story in video for her YouTube channel The Orphan Stray, said.
Julian got so used to dragging around his heavy matted feet that he almost forgot how to walk.
He would lift his feet every time he would walk because this is how he would have to walk with all the matting on his feet.
But he eventually got used to walking without lifting his feet. Once Julian was free from his hairy prison, his personality started to emerge.
Julian is very much Julian and to try and make him otherwise would be wrong.
So, the folks at Save a Greek Stray allow him to do what he wants when he wants so that Julian can truly be free.
“There’s always an expectation when it comes to rescuing dogs that have been found in such terrible conditions. It’s mainly subconscious, but it’s there. We want to see a 180-degree change from very, very bad to very, very good. This doesn’t always happen and it’s not supposed to. What’s supposed to happen is to help any rescue animal live their best life according to who they truly are. Not who we imagine them to be,” Orfanidou said.
Julian’s hair has grown back nice and curly and white.
But being a senior dog with a heart and hearing condition has made it difficult for him to find a forever home.
He is still up for adoption and you can learn more about him here.
You can watch Julian’s transformation in the video below.
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