She was covered in gasoline, her eyes burning, one leg barely able to bear weight. And yet the moment deputies stepped onto that porch, she wagged her whole body and walked straight into their arms.
In Cuyahoga County, Ohio, animal shelter deputies received a disturbing call: a dog had reportedly been doused in gasoline and left alone on a resident’s porch, right as temperatures climbed into the upper 90s.
When Deputy Warden Kayla Wenz and her team arrived, they found a small, scruffy dog with matted fur, gasoline soaked into her face and legs, irritated eyes, and a visible limp.
“By the time we got out there, obviously, she was hot,” Wenz told Spectrum News 1. “She was just still sitting on the back porch, instantly just wiggled up to us because she is just so sweet.”
The dog, now named Penelope, was brought to safety, given a much needed bath, and is currently recovering while veterinarians evaluate her injured leg.
But Penelope wasn’t the only life saved that day. While searching the property, deputies discovered a mother cat and her eight kittens also struggling to survive the dangerous heat.
Even though the shelter primarily cares for dogs, Wenz couldn’t bring herself to leave the feline family behind.
With her supervisor’s approval, all nine cats were rescued too, with one deputy taking them home to foster until they’re old enough for rescue placement.
“Our hope is always to reunite dogs with their owners,” said External Affairs Manager Jen Huettich. “And if not, then we adopt them out.”
If no owner comes forward for Penelope and she’s medically cleared, she’ll be placed up for adoption.
Huettich noted that stories like Penelope’s reflect the quiet dedication of shelter workers who often go above and beyond their job descriptions, scouring social media lost and found pages on their own time just to reunite animals with their families.
For Wenz, moments like these make even the hardest days worth it. “I couldn’t picture my life not doing something like this,” she said. “We have hard days, but I feel like every job does. This is just so rewarding on top of it.”
One phone call, one act of noticing, and ten lives were saved from a heat wave that could have cost them everything.
Have you ever reported an animal in distress and helped save a life?
Source:
people – “Abandoned Dog Found Soaked in Gasoline Is Safe After Rescue”