Dog found abandoned by road in Lehighton
This fluffy dog, whose sex and age have yet to be determined, was found abandoned on the side of the road last weekend. It’s currently residing at the Carbon County Animal Shelter in Nesquehoning. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
As they were gearing up to close for the day, Carbon County Animal Shelter received an unexpected call Saturday afternoon.
According to a post on the Nesquehoning shelter’s Facebook page, it was from a woman who spotted a dog trapped on the side of Skyline Drive in Lehighton. It was stuck inside a cardboard box. The dog could peek its head out but wasn’t able to escape.
Tom Connors, director of the Carbon County Animal Shelter, has no doubt: The dog had been abandoned.
“People don’t put dogs in boxes with a towel and put air holes in the box and leave it on the side of the road,” Connors said. “This dog was definitely dumped.”
“It occurs too often in Carbon County and all the other counties throughout the state,” he added. “This dog was subject to being attacked by an animal, and it could have been really bad.”
Connors believes the dog was deserted the same day it was found. The animal’s sex and age have yet to be determined, and it seems to have issues with its sight. Connors said there is a vet appointment scheduled.
There’s already interest in the dog from potential adopters, Connors said. The Facebook post detailing its abandonment received hundreds of shares less than 24 hours after being published.
But as the dog warms to its new surroundings, a little on edge from the past weekend’s events, Connors pressed that the dumping was preventable. If the owner or dumper responsible had called the shelter, Connors said it would have made room for the dog.
“Right now I have a dog in my office, which really isn’t the best situation. But we do what we have to do to take care of the dogs,” Connors said. “Leaving a dog on the side of the road is never a good option.”
“We would have found a home for it almost right away. That wouldn’t have been an issue.”
Dog abandonment is illegal in Pennsylvania, and Connors said he hopes the person or persons responsible for this incident are “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
“I personally believe that’s the only way that it’s going to stop,” he said. “Until somebody goes to jail for 30 days for dumping a dog, nothing’s going to change.”
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