If you’ve heard of animal dumping grounds, you’ll know what deplorable, disgraceful places they are.
Put plainly, they’re areas where people take unwanted animals to get rid of them. Sometimes the animals are already dead, sometimes the animals are taken alive and left to die by owners that don’t care about them.
This story concerns one dog who found herself in the latter category, having been paralyzed and left for dead. Luckily for her, Isabel Zapata and her friends saved her before it was too late.
Isabel Zapata was one of the people who found the poor Rottweiler starving, dehydrated, and covered in fleas. She had been abandoned by a dumpster at a popular dumping ground in Florida, paralyzed and unable to move. The dog was dumped at an extremely hazardous location because there were a lot of trucks going through there at high speeds.
Many of the animals abandoned at the dumpster don’t make it.
Zapata filmed the moment they found the dog, who they ended up naming Susanna.
The co-founder of the group, Yolanda Ramirez, revealed her heart bled as she watched Zapata’s clip.
“We can’t even begin to imagine the pain and suffering she has been through – she has been discarded like a piece of garbage, she is lying in a dump among the debris, pieces of trash, decomposed food, dirt, pieces of wood, plastic cups, Styrofoam, and metal. Her weak, fragile and exhausted body is about to give up.”
Susanna was immediately rushed to the Mueller Animal Hospital, where veterinarians worked to save her. Once she was stable, they investigated why it was she couldn’t walk.
Tests revealed that the 3-year-old had been used as a breeding dog, only to be dumped and left to die when she became too ill to fulfil her purpose.
”She had some arthritis and physical deformities to her legs, that make us think she was simply stuffed into a crate since puppyhood,” Laurie Kardon, a board member for the rescue, told The Dodo and added:
“She was most likely in there the majority of her life and used for breeding. And when breeders are done with dogs, they simply dispose them.”.
Susanna didn’t have much going for her, but what she did have was a number of people prepared to fight for her life. The good people at the hospital, and the heroes at GGARR, endeavored to begin the arduous process of restoring her strength and spirit.
Slowly but surely, the dog was able to exhibit signs of recovery. She had sessions swimming in a pool to regain enough strength to be able to walk. After a time, she found that strength and is now able to walk around and live a normal life.
If you met Susanna today, you’d never guess the hell she’d been through. She’s completely at home with the other dogs, and loves to have fun and play!
A huge thank you, first and foremost to Isabel Zapata and her friends, but also to all the heroes who brought Susanna back from the brink.
Share this article if you think all dogs should be given a chance in life!
