This neglected stray had an emergency grooming session, now looks like a completely different dog

It was nearing midnight in Oviedo, Florida when a couple on a late-night drive came across a severely neglected dog on the side of the road. Kari Falla, owner of BGE Grooming, then opened her doors to the stray and performed an emergency grooming session in the early morning hours.

The couple had connected with the groomer on Facebook and Falla knew she had to step in to help this poor pooch out. "When a dog is matted that badly, it can cause its blood flow to stop as well as bruising to the dog," Falla told InsideEdition.com.

She noted that an average grooming takes about an hour-and-a-half. But this pup was on the groomer’s table for three whole hours.

The dog, whom Falla named Lucky, was so severely matted that he couldn’t properly go to the bathroom. He was also infested with fleas.

"I could tell he’d been that way for a few years from the pictures," Falla told InsideEdition.com. "You could tell it was extreme neglect. I knew it was bad, but nothing prepared me for what I saw. It smelled like death and the dog could not walk. They had to carry it."

But when Falla began working on Lucky, he sensed she was helping him and was a perfect customer.

Lucky had so much hair taken off, it looked like another dog is sitting next to him on the table.

Once Lucky was rid of the excess fur and had a good scrub down —

— Falla realized that he is both deaf and blind, which could be the reason he ended up abandoned. Officials are currently searching for Lucky’s original owners. This pup was the worst case of neglect she had ever seen.

“It made me cry,” Falla said. But when Lucky’s fur was removed, he immediately began wagging his tail. “I knew I did the right thing.”

Lucky is now being cared for by a foster family while he awaits permanent adoption. We have a feeling that with a face like Lucky’s, he’ll be adopted in no time.

And it’s clear now that not all heroes wear capes. Some wield clippers and shampoo.