When she was brought into a Spanish rescue centre, puppy Barilla’s bones were protruding through her skin and her organs were close to failing.
The starved canine was no more than a bag of bones and had so little muscle that she was unable to walk or stand when an animal lover took her in. But just seven weeks on, Eduardo Rodriguez, the kind-hearted owner of a rescue centre in Granada, Spain, has spoken of Barilla’s remarkable recovery.
When the pooch – named after Barilla spaghetti because she was so thin – was first admitted to the vet, it was not known whether she would survive. She weighed just 16lbs and despite being hooked up to a drip, staff at the centre knew she could suffer organ failure at any time. ‘She’d been so starved of food and water when we took her in that all she could move was her head and her tail, Mr Rodriguez said. ‘She didn’t have any muscle mass.
‘I’ve been rescuing dogs since I was a child and I’m used to seeing them in a bad way but I’ve never seen an animal in such a terrible state as Barilla. ‘The vet said we were lucky we got her when we did because she might not have survived another night. We put her on a drip for six hours before we started feeding her. ‘We made her a type of harness to help her walk so she could gain muscle mass because she couldn’t support her own weight.’
Upsetting video footage shows emaciated Barilla looking forlornly at the camera after being rescued but still managing to wag her tail. She was so weak after being taken in she had to eat from a basket lying down. And even a week later, having gained 8.8lbs in weight, she was still unable to stay on her feet and crashed to the ground when she tried.
Seven weeks on and she is a new dog after wolfing down more food than she had likely ever seen in the 10-month nightmare she lived through before. Footage of the remarkable transformation has been viewed by more than two million people on Facebook alone and touched hearts around the world.
