Late last year, Sharon Stone, Operations Manager of IDA’s Hope Animal Sanctuary was called about two, 6 week old puppies who had been found in a ditch on a rural road. The caller reported that one puppy had an injured leg. Sharon met the kind woman who took the pups out of the ditch, and immediately knew that the female’s injuries were severe.

The puppy was covered in maggots and she had no use of her back legs. The pup, who we named Connie, was rushed to the vet where our worst fears were confirmed. Connie was paralyzed due to an injury to her spine; her left hip was crushed as was her left rear leg. Her right side was also damaged and her tiny body riddled with infection. We were forced to make the most difficult decision to end her suffering.

We will never know if she was struck by a vehicle or thrown from the window of a moving vehicle but we do know that her “owners” did not care enough to be sure that she and her brother were safe and instead dumped them like they were trash. We know these people never had their female dog spayed and instead allowed her to give birth to puppies they did not want.

We will likely never know who did this but we do know they should be ashamed of themselves and we ask ourselves “How could you?” Thankfully, the male thrived and after being placed in a foster home has now found his forever home. You can see his picture here. This boy will never be thrown away again. Not a day passes that we do not educate people about the importance of spaying and neutering and we will continue to do that. Hopefully the day will come when we won’t have to pick up unwanted puppies.