Dog with severe burns recovering in Wake County; community donates thousands for vet care

Maggie Newland
·2 min read
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RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A badly burned dog is on the road to recovery tonight thanks to the SPCA of Wake County and a concerned community.

The dog, named Faith, was recently abandoned overnight at a rural shelter needing more medical care than they could provide. That shelter reached out to the SPCA of Wake County, and Faith is getting the care she needs.

Faith loves to play; she loves attention, and she loves people. She doesn’t even seem to notice the burn stretching all the way down her back.

“She’s been happy since she got here. She’s been in such good spirits,” noted Samantha Ranlet, with the SPCA of Wake County.

But seeing Faith’s injuries when she arrived 10 days ago was difficult for everyone caring for her.

“She was hard to look at. It was pretty tough,” Ranlet recalled. “We hate to see dogs in this condition and know the pain they’ve got to be going through.”

Ranlet says Faith was abandoned at a rural shelter. Because she was left during overnight hours, no one knows how she suffered such severe burns.

“It could be temperature it could be chemicals. It’s hard to say at this point,” Rantlet explained. “Hopefully, it wasn’t done with malice, maybe some misguided home vet care that went awry.”

SPCA staff may never know what happened to Faith, but they know it hasn’t broken her spirit or taken away her trust in people, which is why her name fits her perfectly.

“Whatever she went through, she came in loving everybody from day one, and it’s just a statement to the faith dogs have in us really,” Ranlet said.

The community has stepped in to help Faith. After SPCA Wake posted her story on social media, donations poured in for vet care. Local animal hospital, Care First Animal Hospital is currently matching donations.

“On social media we raised $7,500 which will be $15,000, so that will help [Faith,] but also the next pet that’s like her too,” said Ranlet.

Although Faith needs to fully recover before she can find her forever family, she’s already found a whole lot of people who love her.

“Even if this dog isn’t ours, she feels like ours,” Ranlet said. “She belongs to the whole community, and we’re rallying behind her.”

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