A dog is on the mend Wednesday at Limestone Veterinary Clinic after animal control officers found him with a makeshift splint on an infected injury but no obvious cause or lead to the owner.

Dr. Robert Pitman of the Limestone Veterinary Clinic said the dog was brought in by animal control officers with the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office shortly before noon Tuesday. He was found severely injured in the Owens community.

“You could smell him long before you saw him,” Pitman said of the dog, who has been named Deniro by clinic staff.

Deniro is believed to be a Great Pyrenees that is 10 to 11 months old. Pitman said dogs of that breed and age should be around 65–70 pounds, but when Deniro was brought in, he only weighed 44 pounds.

There was a makeshift splint on his right rear leg made of a 15-inch piece of stick and tape. The tape was so tight, the stick had become embedded inside Deniro’s leg. The wound had also been packed with dirt and was found to have maggots in it.

“It looked like (someone) had tried to splint a broken tibia, the bone between the knee and ankle,” Pitman said. “We got to looking around and checking, and there weren’t any fractures there.”

X-rays revealed a fracture above the splint, between the knee and hip. Because the splint was so tightly wrapped to the leg, it cut off circulation to Deniro’s foot, which led to green, necrotic areas and the foot swelling to four times its original size.

“You could rub it and hair would just fall out of the skin,” Pitman said. “We wondered if the foot was even viable, but we were able to determine there was blood flow to the foot.”

There was 1 1/4 inches of skin holding the foot to the rest of the leg. By using tubing to hold the pieces together and using sugar and laser treatments, clinic staff were able to at least put off the decision to amputate the leg.

Pitman explained sugar absorbs moisture in the wound, which helps reduce swelling. A class IV laser is used to improve blood flow and reduce swelling. The vet said staff will also use honey to help the wound heal.

The treatments will be used every day until Deniro either shows positive signs of skin growth or the decision is made to amputate the leg, Pitman said. He expects the recovery process to take four to six weeks.

During that time, animal control investigators are searching for anyone who might have information related to Deniro’s original owners, the initial injury and the attempt at veterinary care. Those with such information are encouraged to call LCSO at 256-232-0111.

The Athens-Limestone Animal Shelter is accepting financial donations to help cover Deniro’s medical expenses. More than $1,500 had been raised through a Facebook fundraiser as of noon Wednesday, and donors can also visit https://www.limestonepets.org to donate online.