“I really could not tell what breed of dog she was …”
When RSPCA animal rescue officer Krissy Raine responded to a report about a severely neglected dog, she braced herself for the unknown. But nothing could have prepared her for what she saw when she arrived at the property and met Lola for the first time.
The dog was in heartbreaking condition. Large patches of fur were gone, her body was painfully thin, and her skin was covered in scabs and sores. Lola looked miserable and clearly in distress, and Raine’s only thought was how to help her.
“She didn’t even resemble a dog,” Raine said in an RSPCA press release. “I had never seen anything like it. With the scabs covering her face, I couldn’t even identify her breed. It looked as though her head had been dipped in cement.”
Raine managed to have Lola surrendered into RSPCA care and rushed her straight to the veterinarian to begin treatment. Watching Lola in the back of the van, Raine feared the worst and wasn’t sure the dog would survive. Still, she knew she had to give her a chance.
At the clinic, the veterinarian confirmed it was one of the most severe cases she had encountered. Lola was sedated so she could be examined without further pain. She was treated for her skin disease and gently bathed to remove layers of dry skin and scabbing. Over the following days, the veterinary team repeated this careful process again and again.
Only weeks after arriving at the RSPCA barely clinging to life, Lola looked like an entirely different dog — so much so that Raine didn’t recognize her when she returned to check on her progress.
“They brought out a Japanese Akita, and I thought they had the wrong dog,” Raine said. “I asked when I would get to see Lola. I couldn’t believe it was her. She looked healthy, happy, and normal. I just burst into tears.”
Raine had known from the beginning that Lola’s recovery would be uncertain. Watching her overcome every obstacle left her amazed.
“When I first met her, her eyes were empty and full of fear,” Raine said. “As time passed, her personality slowly emerged. Every day she became brighter — and even a little cheeky. It was incredible to see. I truly didn’t think she would survive.”
Lola remained in RSPCA care for six months, continuing to heal both physically and emotionally. Once she was ready to leave her past behind, she was placed with a loving forever family.
At first, adjusting to her new home wasn’t easy. Trust didn’t come naturally after everything she had endured. But after a few weeks, something changed.
“One day, it was like a switch flipped,” said her adopter, Alison Ranger. “She relaxed and opened up. She realized cuddles, treats, and walks were good things. Now she’s calm, affectionate, and incredibly loving.”
Today, Lola is thriving in her new life — a powerful reminder of what patience, compassion, and refusing to give up can achieve.