Dog found stuffed in container along local road “barely clinging to life” dies at animal hospital

PORT VUE — Humane officials are asking the public for help to find the person responsible for putting a dog in a plastic container and leaving it on a road in Port Vue.

It was Thursday afternoon when a retired police officer was driving on Liberty Way and saw something that just didn’t look right — a plastic container with a partially opened lid on the side of the road by the 15th Street Bridge.

“I approached the container and I kind of looked in, it looked like a sweatshirt. So I lean forward and I looked, and I seen a dog, skin and bones. And I said ‘Oh my God,’ and I said  that she rustled and I saw the head and her eyes opened up.”

The emaciated young dog was covered in urine and feces.

The officer, who wants to stay anonymous, said he immediately rushed the black-and-white, female pit bull/Laborador mix to the White Oak Animal Safe Haven.

“So I got down on my hands and knees, I reached into the box and I said ‘You’re going to be OK, girl, I’m going to take care of you, I’ll get your help.’

“We were giving her oxygen, giving her some medication to see if we could bring up her heart rate.”

Shelter president Laura Massie said their veterinary tech did everything she could to save the dog, thought to be about a year and a half to 2 years old; but unfortunately, she died due to the severity of her condition.

She only weighed 16 pounds, less than half her body weight.

Massie told me they’re now looking for the person who committed this heartless act, and that this is one of the worst cases of animal abuse they’ve seen.

“We gave her a lot of love, a lot of us, that we can until the end, but after about two hours she passed away. But she was around a lot of people they were loving and caring for her.”

A humane agent with Animal Friends is also involved in the investigation.

There is a $200 reward being offered, and that amount is expected to increase.

If you have any information about this animal cruelty case, you’re asked to call the shelter at 412-672-8901.

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