A Tucson dog, whose road to recovery gained worldwide attention, was hospitalized Tuesday, according to a Facebook group documenting his recovery.
When Zane was found by the Pima Animal Care Center earlier this month, he was near death. PACC says he was partially blind and covered in sores.
But one woman chose to nurse Zane back to health and take him home from PACC.
"When he got to my house, I was shocked," Linda Elmquist said. "I have never seen a dog in this condition."
Elmquist is nursing Zane back to health. She believes he was wandering the streets of Tucson for weeks based on his condition. He weighed just five pounds and could barely stand or lift his head.
Elmquist brought Zane to a veterinarian hospital on August 21 due to his diabetes being "out of control." Zane will be treated for the next two days and Elmquist says she is staying cautiously optimistic.
Elmquist regularly rescues and fosters dogs, but she doubts Zane would have lived another day out on the streets if he hadn't been taken to PACC.
"All of [Zane's] joints, all of the back of his vertebrae, the skin was gone. And all of his little ribs. But the worst part, was his little hip bones," Elmquist said.
Since he was taken home, Zane's recovery has turned into a worldwide journey. Elmquist made a Facebook group to document his recovery, and now, almost 1,000 people from all over the world have joined "Zane the Incredible Crestie" page.
Facebook users have shared their love and support for Zane through words, pictures and even money for his vet care. More than $2,100 has been raised, which was applied toward his hospitalization on Aug. 21.
"We have people that have sent money from New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden, and he has a big fan club now," Elmquist said.
Each day, Zane has been showing some improvement, but officials say he still has months to go with his recovery. Not only is he partially blind, but he is diabetic, and currently on a lot of medication. But, there's already a growing list of people who want to adopt him.
Last week, Elmquist said Zane was starting to show some spunk, barking or wagging his tail every once in a while.
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This dog wandered Tucson streets for weeks and was near death before he was rescued by PACC. Now, he’s gaining worldwide attention. Hear from the woman who’s nursing him back to health on @kgun9 at 10. pic.twitter.com/hXIDIXfXXO— Natalie Tarangioli (@ntarangioli) August 18, 2018
