Video: Dog With Severely Matted Fur Gets Astonishing Makeover

For Immediate Release:
May 7, 2019

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

When PETA’s fieldworkers first saw Murphy, they weren’t sure what they were looking at—all they could see was a sad, mat-covered small figure huddled inside a filthy wire crate in a dark hallway. But as a new PETA videoreleased today shows, since mats weighing nearly a third of his bodyweight were removed, this little dog’s coat and personality have been shining as he enjoys a new lease on life.

As soon as Murphy’s owner agreed to give him to PETA’s fieldworkers, they rushed him to a veterinary clinic, where two pounds of waste-caked mats were cut off his small body. PETA transferred him to the Norfolk SPCA, where his bat-like ears and contagious smile quickly won hearts—including those of his new family. Now, he can’t stop giving kisses, wagging his tail, jumping up and down, and happily hanging out in his new guardians’ arms.

“One look at Murphy’s expressive face and it’s obvious that his love for his new life is as big as he is small,” says PETA Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “His days of languishing inside a cramped, filthy crate are behind him, and PETA vows to keep helping other dogs in similar situations land on their feet just as he did.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. More information about PETA’s work to help dogs and cats is available here, and more photos of Murphy are available on PETA’s blog.