Dog with mouth clamped shut by rubber bands undergoes surgery, Illinois rescue says

A dog arrived at an Illinois rescue this week with its mouth clamped shut by rubber bands, the rescue said.

St. Francis Community Animal Rescue and Education in Murphysboro shared a disturbing story to Facebook about a dog that arrived at the rescue on Monday.

“Early yesterday afternoon this sweety arrived and was immediately rushed to surgery,” the post said. “It turns out that monster had sealed his little mouth shut with rubber bands!”

The rubber bands cut the dog all the way to the bone and caused a great deal of other damage including cutting off his blood circulation and slicing through tissue, the rescue said in the post.

Because the rubber bands were wrapped around his mouth, the dog hadn’t been able to eat or drink and had the worst case of dehydration the veterinarian had ever seen, the rescue said. They guessed the dog had been trapped in the bands for at least a week.

“The smell on this dog was horrible, so I made the decision to immediately take him into surgery to explore because the muzzle here yesterday was twice the size when he came in, and then matted, and just oozing with puss and fluids,” veterinarian Kay Creese told KVFS.

The organization shared photos of the dog after the bands had been removed here. The images are graphic and may be disturbing to some readers.

It took a two-and-a-half-hour surgery for the team to remove the rubber bands, but the rescue says the 13 pound pup was a sweetheart along the way.

“Those ghastly rubber bands did not cut this little guy’s sweet and gentle demeanor!” the post said. “Throughout his entire ordeal, this sweet angel never once growled or offered to bite.”

Now that he’s on the mend, the rescue says it’s hoping to find a name for the resilient pup.

“This sweet, strong, gentle, dog needs an equally sweet, strong and gentle name. What do you think?”

Police in Carbondale are investigating and the city attorney will review their findings to determine “if further action will be taken,” KVFS reported.