A puppy is recovering after being found tied up next to train tracks in Dade City.
- Photographer finds puppy tied up near train tracks
- Puppy was dehydrated and had sore limbs
A photographer, Rabecca Cruz, heard the puppy screaming for her life and she was able to save her.
“I could hear the sound of an animal in distress," she said. "You could tell whatever it was it was scared or hurting."
Cruz was taking pictures nearby and followed the sound to find a tiny puppy tied up in the cold.
“She’s just so tiny I couldn’t even believe it was a puppy at first. A tiny newborn,” Cruz said.
The puppy was trapped next to railroad tracks on U.S. 301 in Dade City.
“When I tried to pick her up, she was attached to the ground with something," Cruz said. "When I looked, her paw had something wrapped around it and tied. I had to take it off of her and free her."
Cruz volunteers for an animal rescue organization so she knew to take the dog to a nearby vet, who said the pit-bull mix would not have survived the cold night.
The puppy was dehydrated and had sore limbs due to being tied up.
Cruz’s friend Deirde Oakley stepped in to give her a home, and right now, she needs constant care.
“I look at her and it just makes me sick," Oakley said. "I cry. I get sick to my stomach. I look at her and can’t imagine someone doing this."
As for a name, Oakley said: “We named her Polkadot because she has a perfect polka dot in the middle of her back.”
Cruz says she see dogs brought to shelter in bad shape all the time.
Most of the time, there's not a happy ending. Now she wants to know who did this.
“I see this kind of thing unfortunately a lot," Cruz said. "It still made me sick to my stomach. She’s a newborn baby and you don’t think you can shocked at a certain point. I still was. She’s just a baby. I don’t understand what goes through people’s minds.”
Cruz has contacted the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office about the puppy.