Teen Leaves Puppy Tied to Pole: SPCA

"Gypsy" doing better after being found malnourished

A famished dog was found tied up to a pole and clinging to life in Wilmington, Del. Saturday after a teen allegedly left her there in what could be a case of animal cruelty, officials said.

“We found her tied to a telephone pole lying on a trash bag, curled up in the fetal position,” said Delaware SPCA Exec. Dir. Anne Cavanaugh.

A Wilmington Police officer saw the 3-month-old puppy a little after noon in an alley along the 200 block of Delamore Place. The pup had spent three days and nights exposed to the cold weather without food or water, officials said.

The puppy was barely responsive, all skin and bones, when the Delaware SPCA found her. The Shepherd-Doberman mix SPCA officials named, “Gypsy,” weighed only 12 pounds when she should’ve weighed 20.

“It’s always heartbreaking and the officer was just very, very upset! Afraid that she was dead and that we were too late,” Cavanaugh said. “But luckily, she was still alive and we were able to revive her.”

Gypsy was rushed to an animal hospital where she continued to recover Monday night.

When officials tried to find out who abandoned the dog they were led to a 17-year-old boy who had left the dog tied to the pole, according to the SPCA.

“The boy’s mother did not want him to have the dog and so he decided -- even though he is a teenager, he’s not a child -- to tie it up behind the house at a telephone pole for three days,” said Cavanaugh.

Tray Strange who had gotten the dog from a woman who planned to abandon the dog had no plans to hurt the dog, he said.

Strange denied that he was abusing the puppy and rather was trying to feed the dog he called, “Smoke,” but the dog wouldn’t eat.

He told NBC Philadelphia’s Byron Scott why he kept the pup behind his house.

“I didn't wanna take the dog nowhere and then just leave it there... I was just gonna hold it and give it to someone that wanted the dog and was going to take care of the dog,” Strange said.

Investigators should decide in the next day or two if animal cruelty charges are warranted.

As for Gypsy the prognosis is good.

“She’s on various medications and she has a really tight, special feeding schedule but she’s doing really well,” Cavanaugh said.

No timetable for possibly adopting Gypsy was immediately known but donations towards her care can be made through the Delaware SPCA.

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