[A special and important message from our good friend The Dutchess of Kickball.]

A 16 pound dog has a new name, Sally, short for Salvation. She is happy. She wags her tail and licks the faces of the people who come to see her.

She is happy because she was saved.

This past Monday, a man expected nothing out of the ordinary when he went to empty one of those large donation bins you see in shopping center parking lots. What he found besides the clothes and other donations, was Sally. Someone had shoved her through the donation hole and left her, for at least a week, in the up to 90 degree weather.
But what had happened to Sally before she went into the box is a mystery. Right now she is 16 pounds, but the Dutchess County SPCA thinks she should weigh somewhere between 36 and 38 pounds. A dog doesn't drop 20 pounds in a week without food or water.

Vets are expecting Sally to make a full recovery. She has been giving a feeding schedule to safely bring her back to proper weight and nutrition and is enjoying time in a foster home.

But why would someone ever do this to an animal to begin with? There is no excuse. I can not even fathom any reasoning in order to play devils advocate. This is a living, breathing, dependant animal that relies on us to feed her, house her and love her.

And the worst part is, the donation bin that this person chose to use to dispose of Sally is located less than a mile away from the SPCA kennels. He or she could have dropped Sally off there at any point in time instead of continuing the cruelty.

I read this story in our local paper and it made me cry. I felt Sally's story was too important to not share. She was lucky, she survived, but how many more dogs out there don't receive that kind of chance.

If you would like to help Sally you can make a donation in her name to Dutchess Country SPCA.