It saddens me to even post this; however, I'm so very glad that we at The ARF Shack will be able to assist this poor pup and insure that his life ~ from here on out ~ will be safe and loving...  Truly, rather than my reiterating the story, I felt it best to let the words of the Animal Services Officers who assisted Tobias (known to them as Burn-ie) tell of his predictment:

I wanted to share a story about a courageous little puppy that came to me on the night of July 4th.  Approximately 9 p.m., I received a call from our on-call officer. It was an injured dog that needed my help. I agreed to meet both the officer and the pup at the shelter. I was presented with a 9 week old yellow lab mix puppy who wagged his tail so strong he wiggled his whole body. This pup had his head and ears wrapped and an e-collar on to prevent him from scratching at the bandage. The odor of rotting flesh was so strong our poor officer was holding his breath and gagging as he cradled the pup in his arms. Our first thought was that someone had cropped this pup's ears at home and not provided vet care. Upon examining the pup I realized the fur around his neck and shoulders had been burned and all of his whiskers were singed off. He was in terrible pain and bandages needed to come off. I was able to reach our vet by phone to gain his permission to anesthetize the puppy and remove the bandage. We feared the worse as we slowly unwrapped the gauze and tape. It appeared the puppy had been severely burned. The top of his head and both ears were burned and badly infected. The wounds looked to be about 5 -7 days old; the bandages were dirty and leaves were stuck in-between them as if the pup was left outside. This dog was neglected of proper veterinary care. I was able to clean and debride the burned and dead tissue. I dressed the wounds, gave antibiotics and pain medicine. I realized this would be the first of many surgeries this brave little pup would have to go through. At that moment we vowed to save his life and provide the recovery care he needed in the coming weeks. I named him Burnie.

As of July 9, this pup has been through three surgeries to clean and debride the burned and dead tithssue from his head and ears. He has lost 50% of each ear flap. The wounds on his head, neck, legs and paws are healing very well. Despite the pain and discomfort this sweet little pup absolutely loves every human he looks at. His attitude and personality is incredibly forgiving and adoring.  He has a strong will to live and I plan to help him do so. My plan for this pup is to rehab him here at the shelter until he is able to receive bandage changes without sedation. At that point he will be given to Sue Hewlings of The Arfshak Dog Rescue. Sue will take on the responsibility and expense of his continued care. This pup will also receive socialization, potty training and lots of love and affection from his foster home. 

Tobias' foster home has already been lined up and established just awaiting his release.  Please ~ assist Tobias by assisting us with his ongoing medical needs ~ as any funds sent via PayPal should clearly be designated to 'Tobias' Rehab' under the memo notation section and please keep in mind that any and all donations from his sponsors are tax deductible for you since The ARF Shack is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.