After 2 Loyal Yrs, Family Dumps Dog At Kill Shelter For Eating Out Of The Garbage

Meet Coby. A two-year-old dog who was dumped at a shelter for participating in a horrific act ? Coby, like many dogs, likes to dig through the garbage. Instead of putting gates up or spending the time to train him, his family decided he wasn’t worth it so they went ahead and dumped him in a strange place.

‎Samira El-Hage‎/Friends of Fairfield County SC Animal Shelter

Coby stood, facing a wall, at the Fairfield County Shelter in South Carolina. He was too terrified to move.

‎Samira El-Hage‎/Friends of Fairfield County SC Animal Shelter

He was afraid to turn around and look at anyone, even for the volunteers who just wanted to make him feel safe.

“He is scared out of his mind … almost like a feral dog would be … but not once did he growl, or try to bite,” Samira El-Hage‎, a shelter volunteer, wrote on Facebook. “He wanted to hide under the raised bed or run away when we got outside. He kept trying to chew the leash and would not look at us.”

“And he just stands in that corner facing the wall. ?”

Thankfully, Leigh Maddox, founder of Compassion For Cats Of Delaware, saw Coby’s Facebook post. She was shocked to learn that he was surrendered to a shelter, after two faithful years, for such a silly thing. Maddox made arrangements to have Coby pulled from the shelter and moved to Dover, Delaware.

‎Samira El-Hage‎/Friends of Fairfield County SC Animal Shelter

Pilots N Paws, a wonderful organization that flies shelter animals to their foster homes across the country, picked Coby up and flew him to Delaware. Olivia Fritz, Coby’s new foster mom, was there to pick him up. But gaining his trust would prove challenging.

“Coby was so tucked into the seat that it was difficult for my husband to get him out,” Fritz told The Dodo. “Once he was out of the plane he went limp from fear … He was so shut down that really he did not respond to anything or anyone.”

Fritz found Coby’s garbage habit NOT a challenge at all. In fact, most dogs she’s come across find digging through the garbage quite enticing. Unlike giving up on them, and dumping them in a shelter, she uses her common sense and just keeps the garbage away from the dogs by securing it in another room.

Coby is slowly adjusting to life in his foster home. He is still too terrified to do much on his own. He has to be carried in and out of the house to do his business. But Fritz doesn’t mind one bit.

The family will continue to work with Coby until he learns to trust humans and realize he is finally safe. There is no way to know exactly what went on with his previous owners. It seems to be a lot more complex than just garbage eating.

“I thought if I just held him and kissed him that he would know he was loved … but it is far more than that,” Fritz told The Dodo. “I hope the damage he suffered can be overcome but it won’t be overnight.”

But no one is giving up on Coby. Not ever.

Compassion For Cats Of Delaware/Facebook

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