ND: Dog is abandoned - Three-legged dog is left at a local business

Dog is abandoned - Three-legged dog is left at a local business
By Nick Smith
Staff Writer
Published/Last Modified on Tuesday, December 29, 2009 10:35 AM CST

Employees at a Williston business returned to work after the holiday weekend to be greeted by an unexpected three-legged donation in its drop-off area.  An employee at The Wise Penny thrift store on West Broadway found a German Shorthaired Pointer behind the business Monday morning.

Bev Talian of the Opportunity Foundation and an employee at The Wise Penny said the dog sat in the store's caged-in area where donations are dropped off.  Talian said employee Crystal Davis first spotted the dog shortly after 8 a.m. while opening the store.  Talian isn't sure how long the dog had been there, but said he could have been placed in the cage any time between 5 p.m. on Thursday and 8 a.m. on Monday. "It was very thirsty and very hungry. We went out right away and got food and water for it," said Talian.

Talian said the dog is a male with three legs. Aside from it missing one leg, she said the dog was otherwise in fairly good health.  "Someone obviously took care of it when it lost its leg at some point in the past. It's healed and in good shape," said Talian.

Talian said she was shocked and very disappointed that someone would try to abandon a fairly healthy young dog by leaving it in a drop-off cage for donations.  She added the back area where donations are left isn't heated and the dog was subjected to cold temperatures for however long it was there.

Talian said she and employees at The Wise Penny spent Monday morning trying to warm the dog and feed him. She said they were trying to place calls to the Humane Society and local pet stores to see if anyone could take the dog.  Talian also said they hoped to be able to pass on the dog to a local entity by the end of the day so a new home could be found.  "It's a very good looking dog," said Talian.

This is the second time pets have been left at an area business in recent weeks. A few weeks ago, six puppies were left in a box outside of Williston's Pets N Stuff. Talian added a puppy was left at the thrift store the same day the puppies were left at Pets N Stuff.  She said it's cruel to be abandoning pets in the cold and people should drop them off somewhere safe like a pet store instead of being abandoned overnight.

Copyright © 2009 Williston Herald

Source: http://www.willistonherald.com/articles/2009/12/29/news/doc4b3a2db5a6817575049396.txt