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Severely emaciated dog recovering after being found in Brookline [Video]

The MSPCA and Brookline, Massachusetts, Animal Control are trying to identify the owner of a severely emaciated dog that was found in that community last week. Officials said a roughly 3-year-old golden retriever-mix was found on the side of the road near Larz Anderson Park in the area of Newton and Clyde streets on Jan. 24, and brought to Angell Animal Medical Center in Jamaica Plain. “She is about emaciated as you can be and still be alive,” said MSPCA Operations Supervisor Corinne Bourgoin, adding the dog was “quite literally skin and bones.”The dog was so weak when she was found, she could not stand or walk on her own. “On a scale of one to nine, with one being extremely emaciated and nine being obese, she had a body condition score of one,” said Mike Keiley, vice president of the MSPCA-Angells Animal Protection Division.At that level of emaciation, her organs start to shrivel, and all of the parts of her body that should be robust and working have not received nourishment or hydration in so long, that she is quite literally skin and bones and fur, Bourgoin said. The dog, now called Brooke, was put on a strict feeding program and shes been making progress.”She weighed about 10 pounds, when really she should weigh at least 20,” Keiley said. “We put her on a defined refeeding program, and shes been stabilizing since.”MSPCA staff say that Brooke is extremely sweet, despite her situation, and should be ready to leave the hospital this week. “Its always hard to see loving animals like Brooke suffer so much,” Keiley added. “We want to know how it got to this point, and we need peoples help to do that.”It is unclear if the dog ran off on her own or if she was abandoned.This is one of those situations where we really wish animals could talk, and we wish they could tell us what happened, Bourgoin said.Anyone with information about Brookes history is asked to contact Brookline Animal Control via email at animalcontrol@brooklinema.gov, or to MSPCA Law Enforcement online at mspca.org/tip or by phone at 617-522-6008 or 800-628-5808.Bourgoin said the MSPCA can help struggling families care for their pets with assistance with food and some medications, but people must reach out. Click here for more information to see if you qualify or how you can donate.