Poodle found in Ontario with muzzle bound shut, severe injuries

ONTARIO/FOX11 - A 1-year-old Poodle doctors have named "Ricky" is recovering after he was found with his muzzle bound shut with a rubber band. It had been there for weeks, and it left the dog with life threatening injuries.

Ricky was reported by a Good Samaritan as an injured stray dog in the 700 block of Amador Avenue in the city of Ontario on Saturday.

He was brought to the care of Dr. Cynthia Kinney at the Inland Valley Humane Society in Pomona.

"One of the most severe injuries like this that I've seen, very badly infected wound, a rubber band penetrated all the way through and basically cut through all the tissue of Ricky's muzzle, I could see the bone," she said. "He had to be in severe pain, not to mention the infection, and he was starving , literally starving."

She says Ricky was also close to death via blood poisoning, but emergency surgery saved his life, and now, he's loving, and grateful.

"Dogs are just the best," Dr. Kinney said. "He's very forgiving."

The humane society is now using their resources to try and track down whoever put Ricky through so much torment.

"A very sick person, a lazy person who maybe didn't want to get proper training to stop the barking," she said.

Ricky is expected to make a full recovery.

Once he is healed up, the humane society expects to have a line of people out the door waiting to adopt him.

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