Dog with 900 ticks found on side of the road in Wolcott
A dog with almost 900 ticks stuck to his body was found on the side of the road in Wolcott over the weekend.
The dog, named Tony, was found on Wolcott Road by two good Samaritans on Saturday. When animal control arrived on scene, they said he was only able to move a short distance before collapsing.
Officers said his body was completely infested with ticks, and he had multiple bites and wounds.
Tony was taken to Mack and Molly’s Pet Parlor in Terryville for grooming.
“In the 25 years I’ve been doing this, that was the most ticks I’ve ever seen on an animal,” Kim Webster, the owner, said. “Tony came in a hot mess. He was very broken emotionally and physically.”
The staff at Mack and Molly’s Pet Parlor grooms shelter pets at no charge. For four and a half hours on Sunday, Webster and groomer in training Kim Borbas carefully removed upwards of 900 ticks from his body.
“He let us literally do anything, I don’t know another dog that would let us sit there for four hours and pick on him and blow dry him, and the trauma that he went through in such a short amount of time, all the changes and bathing and blow drying,” Borbas said. “It’s like he knew that we were trying to help him.”
Animal control said he was anemic from all the blood loss and is on antibiotics.
Tony doesn’t have a microchip, so police are looking to learn where he came from and how he ended up on the side of the road.
For now, he’s warm, safe, and clean at the town’s shelter.
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