A group of animal lovers named a dog they wanted to rescue from misery “Lucky,” in the hope of having a stroke of luck, and a miracle eventually happened for the poor animal that had been struggling for life with a mouth tightly bound with tape.

>> An audio version of the story is available here

Lucky apparently managed to escape from a slaughterhouse in the southern province of Ben Tre, right before a hammer would have hit his head and taken his life.

It is common practice for slaughterers to tie a dog’s mouth with tape to prevent it from yelping at the moment it is killed.

Lucky somehow managed to run for his life, but it was impossible for the dog to free his muzzled mouth.

The miserable dog purportedly wandered around a residential area in Ba Tri District before 23-year-old photographer Nguyen Thanh Dien ran across him on his way back from work on Tuesday.

“I saw him trying to get food from a landfill, but all that he could do was smell, as he could hardly eat,” Dien wrote on his Facebook page the same day.

The status update was accompanied by a couple of photos of the dog with gangrene seen around his mouth, and the story spread on social media.

Photo: Dien Nguyen's Facebook page

“I was shocked to see the scene,” Dien told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

“I was trying to get closer to help him, but he would just run away whenever I took a step.”

The photographer thus came back later that evening with some of his friends, only to see that the dog was gone, he recalled.

Dien returned the following day but the dog was still nowhere to be found.

The photographer asked locals to keep an eye out for the dog, while sharing his story on Facebook, calling for help from animal organizations.

The heartfelt story and photos of the poor dog immediately went viral, and was shared nearly 10,000 times on Facebook.

Photo: Dien Nguyen's Facebook page

“Gia Dinh Cua Be” (Family of Animals), a group that gathers animal lovers in Ho Chi Minh City, was asked to run a search-and-rescue effort for the dog, which they then named “Lucky,” in the hope of a miracle.

On late Wednesday, when Dien notified them that the pup had been found, the group immediately sent volunteers and vets to Ben Tre.

The group arrived at first light on Thursday, and could not hold back their tears upon seeing the horrible injuries of the poor dog in the flesh.

Photo: Gia Dinh Cua Be's Facebook page

“I was breathless as I was releasing the tape,” Phuong Thuy Vy, one of the group volunteers, recalled.

“There was little meat around his mouth, and the bone was exposed.”

Lucky then received intravenous fluids, and was immediately rushed to an animal clinic in Ho Chi Minh City.

Photo: Gia Dinh cua Be's Facebook

Doctors at the clinic said Lucky might have died if he had gone a couple more days without being rescued. The pup may have suffered from a bound mouth for nearly a week, during which he could hardly eat anything.

“It must be really painful,” doctors said.

Photo: Gia Dinh Cua Be's Facebook page

Vy said local residents had enthusiastically looked for the dog and took great care of him after he was found.

Lucky had run away from a local slaughterhouse, according to locals.

The owner of the facility admitted to Tuoi Tre that the slaughterers will tightly tie a dog’s mouth with tape before killing them by smashing a hammer on their head.

Lucky is now receiving treatment at the animal clinic, but doctors say his recovery process will be slow.

“It depends on his effort and strength,” a vet said.

If Lucky recovers, he will be taken to a house called “Shelter,” where “Gia Dinh Cua Be” is taking care of more than 20 cats and around ten dogs that they have rescued.

Photo: Gia Dinh Cua Be's Facebook page

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!