Twelve-year-old Malory Steiner was playing outside her home in Royalton, NY, when she saw an SUV toss a black garbage bag out its window and drive off. It might have been just a bad case of littering, but then something strange happened.
“The bag started walking down the road,” she told her local news station. She quickly realized that there was a small dog inside the bag, and that it was not in good shape. “I saw that it was starting to rip and it was around his neck.”
Tearing open the bag, Steiner and her family saw that inside was an elderly pug in poor health.
Once he was removed from the bag, the family called the Buffalo Pug & Small Breed Rescue team, who arrived shortly. “It is just disgusting,” Steiner’s mother said of the dog’s treatment. “I still can’t believe somebody would do something like that.”
The pug, named Teddy, was taken back to BPSBR’s headquarters, where it was discovered he was in even worse shape than anyone had realized.
Besides being starved and dehydrated, Teddy also had some kind of severe skin condition (it wasn’t mange, they think it may be an allergy), as well as an old spinal injury, a broken tail, infections in both ears, poor teeth, a very bad case of dry eyes, and possible partial kidney failure. The good news, though, is that he didn’t show any signs of cancer.
They set to work immediately, dosing him with antibiotics, special shampoos, and eye drops.
Teddy has been eating and drinking, which is a good sign, and the rescuers hope that he’s feeling a bit more comfortable.
Despite everything he’s been through, Teddy is a warm, friendly dog who loves snuggling.
See the news coverage of Teddy’s story here:
Local authorities are still searching for the person who dumped Teddy like trash, but for right now, the BPSBR’s energies are focused on getting him the medical attention he needs, both for his injuries and his advanced age. Steiner, who witnessed Teddy’s ejection from the car, is being hailed as a hero for her part in his rescue.
