RUSKIN, Fla. (WFLA) — PETA is now offering a reward for information that leads to the arrest of the person responsible for abandoning a dog whose back and front legs were tied up on a Ruskin road.
According to PETA, a reward of up to $5,000 is being offered after a dog was abandoned near G-7 Ranch Road and Stephens Road in Ruskin Last Wednesday.
The small tan and white dog is believed to be a 2-year-old miniature pinscher and chihuahua mix.
The dog was found after he managed to get his front legs free from the ties and pull himself down the road to a nearby home, where the homeowner called the police.
“This dog depended on someone to keep him safe, but was instead tied up and discarded on the side of the road like trash, and it’s only thanks to his remarkable resolve that he didn’t die there,” says PETA Vice President Heather Carlson. “PETA urges anyone who has information about this case to come forward immediately before the individual responsible hurts someone else.”
The dog is now getting treatment at the Pet Resource Center for cuts and scrapes on his back legs.
“Hard to believe that somebody would just throw a healthy dog, the dog is healthy, put it on the side of the road like that, and not give it a chance for survival. It’s bad enough that you dump your dog, which is against the law, but you don’t want it to survive because you bound its legs together,” said Roger Mills, the Division Director for Animal Control in Hillsborough County. “It’s a felony, it’s a third-degree felony in the state of Florida.”
Hillsborough County said it will offer a reward through Crime Stoppers for any information that leads to the person responsible for leaving the dog.