Few things are worse than seeing unhappy animals. Animals deserve nothing more than to be free, well fed and given all the love and attention they require.

Sadly, too many fall through the cracks and receive too few of these.

For a Shih Tzu dog named Liz, it was all of the above.

Liz was discovered by a good samaritan who brought her to The Trio Animal Foundation’s shelter, in Chicago, Illinois. Upon her arrival, the staff were shocked: she weighed an incredibly low 4 pounds. It was, simply put, a miracle that she was even still alive.

Her body temperature was so low that it didn’t even register on any thermometers. She was severely emaciated, to say the least, and her fur was matted.

To make matters worse, she was soaked in her own urine.

The shelter staff immediately took Liz to their partner veterinarian for emergency care. The poor dog’s muscles had atrophied so much that she could not even stand.

Adult Shih Tzus should weigh between 10 and 12 pounds, so Liz’s extremely low weight was very alarming. Still, they refused to give up hope.

Liz was carefully given fluids via IV and eventually given some small pieces of meat. It was critical to feed her slowly and in very small amounts at first due to her emaciated condition.

Thankfully, the treatment slowly began to work…

Liz’s condition gradually began to improve, and her stomach could start to handle larger portions of food. Just a few days later she was able to hold her head up by herself.

It is unclear how Liz ended up in her dire condition, but she is thankfully improving and making great strides. Whoever abandoned or mistreated Liz in any way should be justly punished, but unfortunately it remains a mystery how the sweet Shih Tzu ended up in this way.

Thank you so much to the good samaritan who had the heart to bring Liz in for treatment instead of just leaving her to her horrible fate. We wish her all the best of luck in the future and hope she gets the loving home she so deserves!