Horrific: Hope was found with her tongue hanging from her mouth
These pictures show the horrific abuse suffered by Hope, an abandoned dog, found with her mouth taped shut, her tongue hanging out.
Vets said it had been exposed for at least 24 hours and was so swollen that most of it will need to be removed.
Deep wounds covered her battered body, some deep enough to cause muscle damage, taking 100 stitches to close. The pug-mix dog was first spotted on Monday morning on Baker Road in Weatherford, Texas, where extreme temperatures have soared above 90 degrees. She was wandering around clearly terrified and in severe pain, having been savagely beaten and tortured.
Someone had wrenched out her tongue before wrapping heavy-duty electrical tape around her snout.
Disgusting: Hope was clearly terrified when she was found, having suffered barbaric abuse
Her condition was reported to Animal Control and it then took several hours for a team of horseback-riding officers and around 10 neighbours to find and rescue her.
She was taken to Bowie Drive Animal where shocked staff treated her wounds and named her Hope.
The gagging tape was removed and sent to a crime lab to be analysed, in the hope that it might lead police to find whoever carried out the abuse.
A feverish and dehydrated Hope was unable to eat, drink or pant, such was the damage done to her tongue.
After it is removed vets said they hope she will start to eat and drink on her own.
source: dailymail