A dog that was left for dead in an abandoned Houston home is on the road to recovery, thanks to a special bath treatment.
“Bella,” a chocolate lab was found at the beginning of October in the 200 block of Taranto Lane in east Houston. Humane Society workers said it was one of the worst cases of animal cruelty they had ever seen. She weighed just 30 pounds and had all sorts of parasites and bruises.
Rachel Ihlenfeldt, a pet esthetician who works at the Animal Medical Center on Kirby, saw Bella’s story on the news and reached out to the Humane Society to see if she could give Bella an ozone treatment for free.
“Ozone has the ability to break down compounds, so if you have a dog that has parasites or bacteria, it will get in there and destroy that cell,” Ihlenfeldt said.
Ihlenfeldt is currently the only person certified in the Houston area to do the treatment. It consists of four rounds, about an hour and a half each. Bella is on her second round. The treatment will make her hair grow faster and cleanse her skin.
First Ihlenfeldt does a detox, mixing together different lotions and spreading them across Bella’s fur. After that, she puts Bella in an ozone bath to lather her with a special type of shampoo and rinse.
After just one round, Bella’s hair is already looking fuller and her skin is improving.
“It’s amazing,” Ihlenfeldt said. “If you can help change the lives of these dogs, that’s what we're here for.”
Now about 40 pounds, Bella is still being cared for by the Humane Society. The organization has picked out a family to adopt her and she will hopefully go to live with them by the end of 2016.