COACHELLA (CNS) - A month after seven puppies were saved from a Coachella dumpster, another weeks-old dog clinging to life today after she was found trashed with burns all over her body and temporarily handicapped from a suspected beating.
Named “Hope” by the daughter of the puppy's rescuer, the injured puppy is in intensive care on 24-hour monitoring, according to a Facebook post from The Animal Hope & Wellness Foundation.
Hope was found in a Coachella dumpster in a plastic bag Sunday afternoon in the parking lot of a shopping center at in the 49000 block of Harrison Street, the post said.
The abandoned puppy was crying when an unidentified person was rummaging through the bin.
Hope was immediately taken to an emergency clinic.
“It appears as if she was burned with a caustic substance, or a metal object like an iron,” according to rescuers. “She is only a few weeks old, had a portion of her tail cut off, and can not walk due to being beat and assaulted.”
The Facebook post also said “We will do everything we can to hold whoever did this accountable, but will need the public's help,” and that “Video footage from local stores in the shopping plaza are being reviewed.”
However, John Welsh of the Riverside County Department of Animal Services said that they have not been contacted to assume the investigation, and that “all we have is what's been published on social media.”
In order to begin an official investigation, Animal Services will need to conduct an interview and walk-through of the scene with the person who found the puppy, Welsh said. He also said that people should not feel obligated to take care of sick or injured animals.
“They don't have to resort to going on GoFundMe,” Welsh said, adding that these types of emergencies are what the department was created to support.
Animal Services was contacted on Sunday, but the on-duty officer was not made fully aware of the state of the severely injured dog, according to Welsh. The department's log appears to show that the person who found Hope intended to take care of the puppy themselves.
A similar rescue story from Coachella broke onto the international stage on April 18 when seven newborn puppies were found in a sealed plastic bag outside of an auto parts store in a recycling bin.
Surveillance footage of the auto parts store showed a woman with a ponytail in a short skirt exiting a Jeep with a plastic bag just after 1 p.m. the same say, Welsh said. The woman who has now been identified as Deborah Sue Culwell then deposited the sealed bag in a dumpster used for recycling.
As the temperatures were well above 90 degrees, it's unlikely the puppies would have survived much longer if John did not find them, Welsh said.
On April 22, the 54-year-old was arrested at her Coachella home where 38 dogs were found at her dilapidated residence. All canines were impounded.
Today, Welsh confirmed that all of the impounded dogs were successfully placed with shelters, where they “are getting a second chance at a much more pleasant home.”
Six of the seven rescued puppies survived under the care of a foster volunteer until old enough to be placed for adoption.