Minnesota Shelter Shares Update on Dog Left to Die in a Ditch

This is one of those stories that is hard to share, as it breaks my heart that someone would do this to an animal that was under their care.

On Saturday Duluth's Animal Allies Humane Society shared a disturbing image of a dog that was found in a ditch near Boomtown restaurant in Duluth, the dog was unable to walk on his own and they believe that it had been locked up in a kennel for a long period. When they found him his body temperature was so low they couldn't get a reading.

They named the dog Lovebug and he was cared for by a member of the Animal Allies medical team, Lovebug was given fluids, small amounts of food, and lots of love. They say Lovebug was "relatively alert and responsive."

Less than 24 hours later Animal Allies shared the unfortunate news that Lovebug had passed away, "Lovebug had such a fighting spirit and was showing so many signs of progress - but sometimes all the body needs is warmth and love in order to pass with dignity."

Animal Allies confirmed that the owner(s) of Lovebug has been found and that the Sheriff's office has spoken with them and that they will be moving ahead with neglect charges. Animal Allies says, "This is still an open case investigation; so we will keep working with authorities to help in any way we can. The truth has come to light and we will continue this fight for Lovebug."

Nearly $10,000 in donations were raised to help care for Lovebug and to help Animal Allies continue to do the work of protecting animals. Animal Allies says that this year has been hard for them, they say that they had "77 surrender requests last month alone. Struggling with compassion fatigue from carrying the weight of an animal's suffering and the guilt of not being able to help everyone the moment they need it."