Family Abandons Dog At Shelter For ‘Eating Trash,’ but He’s So Scared

When families take their dogs to the shelter, it is painful to hear. They will often have a reason for this choice, but many people believe that dogs should never be abandoned in this manner.

The day Cobe was brought to the shelter, he had no idea what his future held. Just two years old, all he knew was that his life as he knew it was over. His previous family got angry at him for digging through the trash and abandoned him at a kill shelter.

When Coby arrived at the Fairfield County Shelter in South Carolina, he was so confused and scared that all he could do was sit against a wall and stare. He refused to make any eye contact with any of the kind volunteers.

FACEBOOK/SAMIRA EL-HAGE‎

It’s easy to see why the dog didn’t have any faith in humans.

Samira El-Hage‎, one of the volunteers for the animal shelter, wrote on Facebook that Lenny “is scared out of his mind … almost like a feral dog would be.” Describing his behavior when meeting potential adopters and going on walks, she noted that “He wanted to hide under the raised bed or run away when we got outside. He kept trying to chew the leash and would not look at us.”

The message posted on Facebook Post soon began to spread, and people expressed empathy for the dog. Leigh Maddox, founder of Compassion For Pets Of Delaware was one of those individuals.

Maddox didn’t want Coby to spend even one more day at the shelter; he needed a forever home with somebody who would love him. Furthermore, he needed to learn some essential commands that his previous owners neglected to teach him.

FACEBOOK/SAMIRA EL-HAGE‎

Pilots N Paws is an organization that helps animals find and get to their forever home. They transferred Colby to Delaware where he met Olivia Fritz, his new foster mom.

In an interview with The DoDo, she said, “Coby was so wedged in his seat that my husband had a hard time taking him out. When he finally got him off the plane he was so scared that he went limp and unresponsive.”

Fritz believes that Colby was not abandoned at the shelter because he ate garbage. The family neglected him to such an extreme that they failed to stop him from urinating and defecating inside the house.

The road to recovery is long, but he’s making small steps every day.

“I held and kissed him because I thought that would be enough to show he was loved,” Fritz told The Dodo. “It’s going to take more than that though. His injuries will hopefully heal over time, but it won’t happen quickly.”

Now that Colby is receiving the care he needs, he is doing much better. We are confident that he will continue to improve now that he can leave his past behind him.