What looks like a lump (which may be found and the whole area must be checked from the top of the head, along the dog's neck / shoulder area to the base of the tail) is in fact
a kind of abscess often reaching into the spinal cord.
There were untreated bacterial, yeast and fungal infections, lameness, parasites
of almost every known
kind, coccidia, giardia, campylobacter, bite wounds,
abscesses, hip dysplasia, demodex, luxating patellae, and malformed limbs.