STROUD TOWNSHIP — Animal shelter officials in the Poconos are trying to find out why two dogs were found near the shelter.
One dog was abandoned and the other was found dead.
Shelter officials named the abandoned dog Destiny. She is now being cared for at AWSOM Animal Shelter outside Stroudsburg.
Shelter workers say the 1-year-old female hound mix is emaciated and her ribs poking through her skin.
Destiny was found on Sunday in the woods nearby by a cyclist.
“She’s in pretty bad shape,” said Marie Grimm, the President for the Board of Directors for AWSOM Animal Shelter.
When Destiny was discovered, Steve Searfoss was volunteering at the shelter walking a dog. A dog lover himself, Searfoss came back in hopes of finding any more clues in the woods where Destiny was found.
“I have my dog so we’ll just take a walk through the woods, with a leash, to see if there’s any other strays. You don’t know,” said Searfoss.
Rebecca Guerrini of Stroudsburg was also at the shelter when Destiny was discovered. She was there to adopt a dog and is back again to check in.
“It looked very sick and skinny. But it was happy to have people around because I think she knew people wanted to help her, not hurt her,” said Guerrini.
The cyclist who found the dog found the animal about a quarter-mile away from the shelter. But then hours later, when shelter workers came back to the area to investigate, they made another upsetting discovery.
“Picked up the bag and eerily the bag has weight in it. Inside that bag, is a dead Yorkie,” said Grimm.
The SPCA is involved in investigating how this happened and who is responsible.
“It’s horrible how people can treat animals like that,” said Searfoss.
“There are so many places you can bring them, or leave it where someone can find it. Not in the woods. It’s heartbreaking,” said Guerrini.
Workers at AWSOM animal shelter are hoping you recognize Destiny the dog or know of a young Yorkie that’s gone missing.
If you have any information, you’re asked to contact the police.
