Sometimes in the real world things don’t work out like they should.

We spoke with Dr. Jeremy Deaton at Nichols Animal Hospital in Centre Thursday morning – and he informed us that, despite their best efforts, Blue has died.

Blue was the Blue Tick Hound found abandoned and essentially left to die along a stretch of Highway 411 North:

Dr. Deaton stressed that the sheer cruelty of this case was one of the most appalling that he has seen, and that efforts are being made to find the person responsible:

Since being brought to Nichols Animal Hospital, Blue was being treated, and nursed back to health.  Earlier this week, we shared his story and posted photos on our website and within hours thousands of people were talking about it – and Dr. Deaton told us people were lining up to adopt Blue as soon as he was healthy enough to go home with a new family.  However, just when it looked as though Blue would finally have a chance at the life he deserved, everything went wrong; things took a turn for the worse late Wednesday and Blue died due to complications from his condition.  A formal autopsy will be conducted to document those injuries and the attempts to bring animal cruelty charges against those responsible will still be pursued.

Blue had a very distinctive look, and anyone who had seen him before will surely recognize him from and will likely know the person responsible for his condition.

Anyone with any information is urged to contact Animal Control at (256) 266-1390 OR the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office at (256) 927-3365.

We’ll keep you updated on the investigation into the matter.