A few weeks ago, I heard a puppy crying outside. I was promoted at work and switched to night shift, so I am up during the night now. It was pitch black outside, so I went to go look for it in the dark with a flast light. I found the puppy under my neighbors trailor covered in spider webs. Only one stray dog I knew about had given birth lately, and all her puppies were much larger and no longer nursing. This puppy was clearly still nursing. I brought her inside and examined her, and she was being eaten alive by maggots and other weird insects. I tried to clean her up as much as I could, and sent my husband for puppy formula. She had what looked like a bite in her neck (two fang marks on top and marks from teeth on the bottom of her neck) where the maggots were living. I didn't think she was going to live through the night, but she did. The next day she looked much, much worse though. The wound had started to yellow and she was just laying there crying with her tongue hanging out. I tried to give her milk and clean the wound, but she just kept crying. I brought her to the shelter in hopes that they would take her. The only thing they could do was put her to sleep they said because the maggots were too deep to be removed. I left her there to be put to sleep. I really wish I hadn't, but was there anything that could have been done about it? I'm not sure a vet could have removed the maggots. They had tunneled really deep into her neck. I don't know, I just wish I could have done something instead of taking her to get put to sleep.

:hug: Just know, you did the right thing. You are not a vet, you could not have saved her yourself, you took her to someone you believed could. Without seeing the puppy myself I (nor can anyone else here) say if it could have been saved. The puppy is gone now, it's no use feeling guilty about trying to help her.

About 9 or 10 months ago my sisters and I found 2 kittens on my parents' property. They also were basically being eaten alive by maggots and worms. It was the most disgusting thing I ever saw. We took them in and cleaned them as best we could and fed them. We took them to the vet the next day. The vet told us he would have to put the one kitten down because it was just beyond repair. (The other one was savable and we kept her but unfortunately she died about 6 months later from cancer.) It was very sad that the one was put down but I'm glad we took her there instead of her suffering any longer. :hug: