A community is grieving the death of a dog who was tied to a tree and left to die in Chicago, Illinois. The mixed breed dog, dubbed Toby, was tied up behind a North Chicago apartment complex after his owner was sent to jail…as the weeks turned into months, the tethered dog slowly wasted away without access to proper food or water.
In late September, after two months of struggling to survive without care, Toby was picked up by North Chicago Animal Control; if not for his access to pears which had fallen from the tree he was tied to, Toby would have already been dead.
After being rescued
Shortly after being rescued, Alison Graham described the starved dog’s condition and treatment:
“Toby’s doctors and nurses called him “Eeyore” 💔💔💔. He couldn’t keep himself warm, so they wrapped him in lots of “blankies” and had something called a Bair Hugger inflated hot air blanket that kept his entire body warm and comfortable. He LOVED the Bair Hugger. He snuggled up under it, and slept (and snored) so peacefully. Sunday morning he was given an appetite stimulant and he ate some chicken “ravenously”, so we were starting to gain hope that he had been through the worst and was on his way back.
The damage was done
Though Toby was taken to a veterinarian for life-saving care, help came too late. Toby’s body was shutting down and the emergency care, including a blood transfusion and nasal tube feeding, that he was being provided with was just not enough. Graham wrote:
When it came time, Shari, myself, and his doctor were in the room with him the entire time, and Shari was holding him, talking to him, and stroking him, and we were going over every possible last ditch but humane treatment option that anyone could think of. His doctor could not have been kinder to him, and she was in tears. She had to excuse herself. I have been in rescue for 15 years and I know doctors cry and grieve because they care, but they do that out of sight of the pet guardians.
Toby knew love and kindness in his last moments – thanks to compassionate people, he knew that he mattered.
A heartbreaking issue
People saw Toby tied to that tree…but nobody did anything until it was too late to save him. If you see a dog suffering, please reach out to officials and make a report, before it’s too late.
Rest in peace Toby – you did not deserve to be left alone and forgotten at that pear tree.
Read more of Toby’s story at this link to the fundraiser which was set up to provide him with the veterinary care that he needed.
More news, updates, funny videos and memes on the National Animal News Facebook page.
Yesterday in the news: Overweight tourists banned from riding donkeys – more here.
In need: Stunning senior shepherd homeless at busy CA shelter – more here.
A remarkable transformation
Left to die…
To the people that saw him, I hope that when you close your eyes at night you keep seeing this poor dog , and that you lose many nights of sleep. Idiot inhumane people that Did NOTHING.
Wishing the owner’s sentence could be “the death penalty”!
That sounds like the people of Chicago, they wear blinders, they don’t see, they don’t care and even if they do see they don’t say anything. They say they don’t want to get involved. Well wake up people, what goes around comes around! RIP Toby. You didn’t deserve that.
To all the people who saw this dog suffering and did nothing, you deserve to be charged with animal cruelty, To the POS that tied the dog to a tree and left him to die, you deserve nothing good in your miserable life for the rest of it! I don’t understand why it took 2 months for someone to do something for a dog left in plain sight!
To the people who saw this and did nothing….I hope you die a slow and lonely painful death of stomach cancer.
Such assholes in this world
Why oh why can we not flush them out
RIP poor dog
Tobe, run free with all the other animals at the rainbow’s bridge. Why no one who saw you tied up didn’t bother to contact animal control we will never know. Not wanting to get involved is the most horrid reason a person can give. I pray that for the short time Toby was being cared for, he knew and welcomed the love that was given to him. I really hope someone in that building knows who owned Toby so they can be in jail forever. RIP Toby, we all love you.
Sweet Toby, I want to apologize for for miserable beings who abandoned you. I’m grateful &thankful for your rescuers & the medical staff who were sble to show that not all humans are horrible. Run free & happy in heaven, sweet angel…
RIP Toby ????????????You not deserved this disquting behaving ???????????? So cruelt !! WHY SEE IT ??AND DO NOTHING ??? ITS UNBELIVING ????????????