ohmidog!

Hope, a mixed-breed dog that seemed to be on the road to recovery after being nearly decapitated in Georgia earlier this month when her owner left her tied to a tree, has died.

She was euthanized Tuesday after encountering breathing complications.

“The good thing is she got to know that people could be nice to her, because she got a lot of love when she was in the hospital,” Pat Corley, president of Forsyth’s Save-A-Pet organization, said Wednesday.

Hope had been at Caldwell Animal Hospital since July 7, when one of the rescue organization’s members spotted her at the pound in Monroe County, a huge gash running the length of her throat.

Although Save-A-Pet planned to cover all of Hope’s medical expenses, donations were coming in from as far away as Australia, and one Forsyth attorney wrote a check for about $1,500 to cover Hope’s expenses, the Macon Telegraph reported.

Shane Smith, the Save-A-Pet volunteer who took Hope to the hospital, was checking on her everyday, and he and his wife planned to adopt her once she recovered.

“She was sweet. She did fight. We just wanted her to have a chance,” Janet Smith said. “She just made such a great effect on so many people in such a short period of time.”

(Caution: Unsettling images appear with the continuation of this story.)

Janet Smith said a cable or cord had been tied around Hope’s neck and to a tree.

Corley said Hope was about 40 pounds underweight.

“I think one thing is it’s made people aware that, as in other places, we have animal abuse all over. And people don’t realize how bad it is. This is really bad,” Corley said. “Hope pulled us all together, I think, a little bit closer.”

Earlier this week, Hope was reported to be wagging her tail, and greeting visitors in a friendly manner.

“She’ll just go up to anyone; she’s just a good dog,” said Smith, who came up with the name Hope for the mixed breed dog, believed to be about 1 1/2 years old.

Law enforcement officials arrested 19-year-old Monterion Dionte Davis in connection with what they are calling the the worst animal abuse case they have ever seen in Forsyth.

Monroe County Sheriff John Cary Bittick said the suspect admitted to using an electrical cord to tie the dog in the woods. The sheriff’s office said Davis told investigators he left the dog to die.

WTVM reported that it isn’t clear how long Hope was tied up, or who brought her to the pound. Also unanswered is why pound staff didn’t detect the dog’s injuries before Smith, a visitor, did.