These animal rescuers and staff members of a local shelter thought that they saw everything throughout their career – until they came across this incredibly neglected pup who inches away from dying.

Meet Ellie Mae, who came into the shelter as an almost completely unrecognizable dog.

In fact, the staff of the Nebraska Humane Society wasn’t even sure that this animal was a canine at all. The reason why? The poor thing was completely covered in matted fur, you practically couldn’t see anything.

When they realized just how much fur there was, vets and assistants were absolutely shocked. Underneath all of this was a small dog that was still alive, but desperately needed help, and quick!

Ellie was actually discovered completely by accident at her owner’s home.

Ellie’s owner had been deceased for a while, and the house was also abandoned for a long time. The NHS said that the condition of the home was absolutely terrible, with garbage and junk everywhere.

Ellie was almost overlooked at first, as people inside simply thought that the poor animal was a dirty mop.

“Basically, she just looked like it was a container of dirty mops, and then we saw it move a little bit,” people said to KFOR.

The matted fur completely immobilized poor Ellie Mae, she couldn’t walk at all.

Breathing almost wasn’t possible anymore either. When the volunteers discovered her in complete shock, they immediately lifted her up, placed her in plastic box and headed to the animal rescue group right away. It didn’t exactly look good – but they wanted to do everything in their power to save this poor dog’s life.

When Ellie Mae finally arrived, they decided to proceed with surgery right away.

Vets put her under anesthesia in order to insert a breathing tube, and they started removing the incredible amount of matted fur, piece by piece. Three shelter workers were on it, but it took a while before they could actually get a glimpse at Ellie Mae.

While the fur was finally being removed, it became clear how dire and heartbreaking Ellie Mae’s condition was.

“As our team clipped away, they found something extraordinary. Ellie Mae’s legs were pink with blood flow. The added matting and length were seven-inch toenails that were cocooned in hair, feces and years of grit,” the NHS posted on Twitter.

“We carefully cut through the grimy hair with no idea what we would find underneath. Our vet, Dr. Amber Horn, was worried that we wouldn’t be able to save her legs. A past dog had matted hair so bad it had cut off the blood flow of a dog’s leg, requiring partial amputation.”

Luckily, an amputation wasn’t needed – but Ellie Mae still had a very long road to recovery ahead of her.

As you can see, Ellie Mae is doing so much better. We’re glad that we were able to help her out when we did. pic.twitter.com/HUzzLXzkuW

— Nebraska Humane Society (@NEHumaneSociety) September 13, 2019

When they finally got rid of all of the matted hair, they decided to re-weigh Ellie Mae. Turns out that this 11-pound pup was carrying around no less than 9 pounds of matted fur!

This was most definitely the worst case of matted fur that anyone at the shelter has ever encountered.

“Ellie Mae came to the shelter a few weeks ago in extremely rough shape. She was covered in 9 pounds of matted and smelly hair, the worst that we’ve ever seen,” a Facebook post from the shelter reads.

“After her clean up, we were amazed that she didn’t have more health issues. The hard shell of hair apparently protected her skin from infections and parasites. We’ve seen cases where the hair gets so tight it actually strangles the limbs and naturally “amputates” them,” Pam Wiese, a representative of NHS, said in an interview with Bored Panda.

After five long hours on the operating table, the adorable Ellie Mae finally looked like a dog again!

The small four-footer stayed at the shelter for a couple of weeks, but it didn’t take long before she found her loving forever home. The 91-year-old Betta Mae from Omaha met her at the shelter, and it was love at first sight.

What an absolutely incredible story and journey.

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Source: KMTV 3, NHS (2), Bored Panda