Puppy recovering after being tied to tree near Zebulon swamp

ZEBULON, N.C. (WTVD) -- A puppy is recovering after being found tied to a tree near a swamp in Zebulon.

The SPCA of Wake County said the puppy, now named Nash, is in a foster home recovering and will be put up for adoption.

Jessica Clayborn heard Nash whining while she was hanging laundry in her yard.

She told the SPCA that Nash was tied to a tree on a small piece of dry land near muddy swampland. He struggled to free himself and the rope cut into his skin.

"I was hanging laundry and I could hear him crying in the woods," Clayborn said. "Really, all I could see is a bunch of weeds moving and hear him until I got right on top of him because the weeds are really tall."

While giving him a bath, she also found maggots in his ears.

"He was completely covered from head to toe," Clayborn said. "They were in his fur. He has very thick underfur and they were all in there. I had to really scrub to get everything out and turns out they were all coming from his neck from where it had been sliced open. Whenever I picked him up he just kind of laid back in my arms because he was just so relieved that someone had found him."

Care First Animal Hospital, vet partners of the SPCA, treated Nash, cleaned his wound and gave him antibiotics. He also has chemical burns on his ear and tail.

"There's nothing right now that's says he's not going to be a perfectly healthy, normal dog," said Mondy Lamb, director of development for the SPCA.

Read more about Nash's story here.

If you want to help Nash, you can click here.

"I hate to think that someone would do that intentionally to someone so cute and sweet and young but there are a lot of bad people," Clayborn said.

Mark Aubut of Raleigh is fostering Nash.

"When he first came to the house, he was really nervous. We got two other dogs," Aubut said. "After about a day, he really lightened up . He runs around, plays; he's doing really good. Healing up really good. He's doing a lot better than he was."

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