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DETROIT (WJBK) - A dog was discovered abandoned in the cold, starving and resorted to eating trash and metal.
Tad is a young pit-lab mix who is recovering after a very close call.
"People moved out and left him behind," said Lisa Young, Happy Days Dog and Cat Rescue. "He needed help. Detroit Animal Control is closed right now, and they needed a rescue to step up and help them."
Volunteers from the rescue responded Friday to a call from a neighbor who noticed Tad trapped and starving in an enclosed back yard on Detroit's west side. He hadn't eaten proper food for a month, and resorted to eating, trash, carpet and even scraps of metal.
"There was debris everywhere, there was metal on his X-Rays," said Patricia Ford, a medical specialist at the rescue. "He was eating anything just trying to survive."
Volunteers at the Wilson Veterinary Hospital say Tad was found in the nick of time. And if he was discovered even a few days later, he would have probably died.
"He could not stand, he was too weak," Young said. "He had no strength to stand."
Tad was also covered in tics. He was treated with a blood transfusion, and is being carefully monitored as the metal shards seems to be passing through his system.
Volunteers wish there was a way to track down the original owners, and make them pay for what they've done.
"I feel great that he survived," Young said. "And I wish we could punish the people who abandoned him."
Tad is slowly getting his energy back and luckily, will likely survive.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to pay for tad's medical expenses, anything left over will help pay for the other animals who are all too often left in the same circumstances.
"They keep coming in," Ford said. "I don't understand why people can't feed a dog, or get a dog help. If they can't take care of it, get it somewhere else."