A dog with matted fur seen chained to the gate of a flat at Choa Chu Kang Street 62 has been rescued.

The rescue

On the evening of Jan. 30, HOPE Dog Rescue gathered several volunteers at Choa Chu Kang Street 62 to rescue the dog, which was previously seen tied to a flat's gate with a metal chain.

They managed to locate the flat after combing through the building floor by floor.

The door was open, showing clothes and stuff strewn across the hall as seen in the photo submitted by a Mothership reader.

However, volunteers noticed that the floor was clean and there was no sign of a dog around.

Hesitant to hand dog over

The volunteers then called out to the owner of the house, and a woman came out from one of the rooms.

When asked about the dog, which is named Caitlyn, the lady said that she was showering.

The volunteers then encouraged the lady to "give [them] the dog", to which the lady answered that she "[doesn't] even know who [they] are".

After confirming that HOPE was a legitimate organisation, the lady maintained that Caitlyn was showering.

"She appeared hesitant about giving the dog to us," HOPE noted.

Shaved

The volunteers waited for almost two hours before the lady finally appeared at the door of the unit with Caitlyn wrapped in a wet towel.

By then, it was almost close to midnight.

The volunteers noted that Caitlyn was shaved — which they believe was an attempt to "[get] rid of all the evidence of neglect".

Trembling

Upon retrieving Caitlyn, the volunteers used spare towels they brought to wipe the trembling dog and cover her from the cold.

"Despite [taking a] bath, you cannot imagine the stench. Brown liquid was also flowing out of her ears," HOPE wrote.

"She looked like a scene out of a horror movie," they added.

As Caitlyn was rescued past midnight and the 24-hour animal hospitals contacted were either short of staff or busy with emergencies, she was brought back to a volunteer's house for the night.

Weighs half of what a normal Shih Tzu would weigh

Caitlyn was brought to the vet the next morning. She was neither microchipped nor licensed.

Her eyes were reportedly covered with fur which were stuck with thick layers of faeces.

Medical staff reportedly took almost three hours to detangle her fur and discarded three shavers in the process.

Caitlyn weighs 3.3kg — half of what a normal Shih Tzu would weigh, HOPE said.

Vitals stable, has mange & heart murmur

Caitlyn is currently warded at the vet.

While the owner said that the dog was 13 years old, though the vet estimates that Caitlyn could be about 10 or younger.

While Caitlyn's vitals are stable, she has mange, and is currently awaiting lab test results to see if she has ringworm.

HOPE will arrange a heart and abdomen ultrasound next as Caitlyn has a heart murmur.

If you are interested in fostering Caitlyn or help with the vet bills, you can reach out to HOPE through a private message on Facebook or email them at [email protected].

Top image via HOPE Dog Rescue Singapore/Facebook.