Dog found injured and dumped in field in Madera expected to make full recovery

MADERA, Calif. (KFSN) -- An 8-month-old german shepherd mix is recovering Wednesday after he was found with gruesome injuries and an infection.

The Madera County Animal Shelter believes his previous owner dumped him on the side of the road on Avenue 15 near Road 31 where he was found late Tuesday afternoon.

Not only was the puppy underweight and about half the size of where he should be, it looked like the collar on him hadn't been adjusted or taken off in months. The shelter thinks it kept getting tighter around his neck as he continued to grow, and began cutting off his circulation.

Kirsten Gross is the Director of the Madera County Animal Shelter. She introduced us to the pup that they've named Stevie. "He's just a super sweet puppy, he wants attention, he likes to be scratched and loved on, he's eager to please, there's no reason in the world why someone should not have taken good care of this dog."

The shelter says when they found the collar buried in his neck, they cut it off. When they found infected open wounds underneath, he was rushed into surgery.

"The infection is what would have killed him in a short period of time. So we got rid of all the nasty tissue, we gave him antibiotics to kill the bacteria that was running rampant in his neck," said

Now with hundreds of stitches wrapped around his neck, he begins the process of recovery, but some of his injuries may be permanent.

The shelter says he was so malnourished, it weakened his joints, plus his vision was impaired.

While he didn't get the usual upbringing full of love like most puppies, you would never know by meeting him.

"The great thing about dogs is they have a lot of great residual personality that even though he's been mistreated he still likes people which is wonderful."

Stevie should be up for adoption in a few weeks at the Madera County Animal Shelter once he recovers.

In the meantime, The Friends of Madera Animal Shelter is offering a $500 reward to anyone who has information leading them to whoever is responsible for leaving this dog in the condition they did.