BOCA RATON, Fla. – Police in Palm Beach County are investigating a horrific case of animal abuse after a dog was found stuck to a sidewalk.
The little guy has been called Trooper and he is living up to his new name.
There is now a $16,000 reward to find the person responsible for Trooper’s abuse.
He’s been recovering at Tri-County Humane Society in Boca Raton for more than a week after some good Samaritans found him.
“It took them about an hour to pick him up off the sidewalk,” said Dr. Julia Sheehan with Tri-County Animal Rescue. “He was stuck.”
Sheehan says Trooper had been lying in his own waste for so long that it glued him to the sidewalk.
She said when they first brought trooper in, he looked like he was dead.
“Covered in fecal material, burrs, even maggots,” said Sheehan. “He had a lot of wounds on his skin, long nails that when we cut them, basically pus came out.”
He has a heart murmur, ear infections, ulcers in his eyes and a slipped disk in his back which left him unable to walk.
Doctors give Trooper physical therapy every day, teaching him to stand and walk on his own.
They’re also treating him for all of his other ailments and say he’s responding not just to the meds but to all the love and attention.
“I think it’s good, I think he’s a trooper. That’s why we named him that,” said Sheehan.
Trooper is expected to remain at the facility for at least another month or so, but if all goes well, he could be available for adoption soon after.