ATLANTA — An abused puppy found dumped in southeast Atlanta last week died over the weekend, leaving authorities with the task of catching whoever hurt him.
The woman who found the dog tells Channel 2’s Matt Johnson she cries thinking about the pain it was in.
Eight years ago, she says, someone threw a different puppy over her fence but she was able to keep him and has him today.
But in this case the puppy, named Caleb, couldn't survive the abuse he was put through.
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“I know he was a little bitty puppy. It's sad,” Estella Jordan said.
Jordan woke up last Wednesday morning to a 3 to 4-month-old puppy in her yard, alive but struggling to breathe.
“I don’t know why they do that to the dog,” Jordan said.
She could see ribs so she figured he was hungry but she says he was in so much pain he couldn't even eat.
“I couldn’t do nothing but shed a few tears,” Jordan said.
She called Fulton County Animal Services staff, who showed up to her house on Murray Street in southeast Atlanta that day.
“It was immediately obvious he needed emergency vet care,” Audrey Shoemaker, with Animal Services, said.
Shoemaker enlisted the help of the nonprofit group "Rescue Dogs Rock" and together they helped pay for his treatment.
The group says he had head trauma, was starving and was covered in old cigarette burns.
They named him Caleb, hoping he would pull through, but he died of his injuries Saturday morning.
“He received the absolute best care. They were very aggressive with his treatment. His little body just wasn't able to take it,” Shoemaker said.
"All my officers, they take it very personally. That's why they're out knocking on doors, beating the streets trying to figure out who did this,” Tim Poorman, with Animal Services, said.
Back at Jordan's house, she looks after her dog Roscoe, who she found dumped in her yard eight years ago.
He was able to make it but Jordan says whoever is responsible for Caleb deserves more than a prison sentence.
“Whoever did it I hope they catch them catch them and do him the same way they did that little puppy,” Jordan said.
Rescue Dogs Rock, which is based in New York City, is offering a $5,000 reward for any information that lead to the arrest and conviction to whoever abused and dumped Caleb.