This is a photo of Charlotte shortly after she was rescued. The Chihuahua was so emaciated and her head was so horribly swollen that a woman who found her didn’t know what kind of animal she was.Her eyes were swollen shut. Her head ballooned three to four times its normal size. Her throat was nearly swollen shut.
Her breathing was shallow. Bite marks dotted her head and legs. She had heart worms. She was dehydrated.
That was the condition of Charlotte, a year-old, reddish-brown Chihuahua who showed up on the porch of a St. Louis woman's home in July 2006. The woman called the Humane Society of Missouri saying she had some sort of "weird-looking animal" on her porch who was scaring her.
The "animal" was later determined to be a 4-pound emaciated Chihuahua in such critical condition that she was transferred to an emergency animal clinic after being brought to the Humane Society.
Workers cut off a plastic zip tie that was embedded in Charlotte's neck, cutting off air and causing fluid to enlarge her head. In addition, she was emaciated and had a heart murmur.
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