Police: Dog left in bag ‘recovering well’

A dog found abandoned in a crate sealed inside a garbage bag will be fostered through a local rescue group while her case is pending.

The pup, now named Gladys, was found Sunday outside the Woodhaven and Trenton Animal Shelter door. She was locked inside a crate wrapped in a black plastic bag on a day that saw temperatures near 90 degrees.

“At the time, the dog’s hair was very matted, she did have fleas and an injured rear leg, possibly broken,” Woodhaven police Sgt. Frank Zdankiewicz said Wednesday. “I’m told that the dog is recovering well.”

Named for the brand of bag she was found sealed inside and estimated to be around 2 years old, Gladys is being treated by a local veterinarian until she is ready to be fostered and eventually adopted, according to officials.

The shelter confirmed the information in their own post later Monday.“Last Day Dog Rescue will be taking this dog in,” the rescue wrote in a Facebook post Monday. “Stay tuned for more information.”

“When released from the vet, they will be fostering her until the case is solved,” officials said. “She will then be available for adoption through them.”

Animal rights group PETA said Wednesday they are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person who abandoned Gladys.

“It takes a dangerous lack of empathy for someone to lock a dog in a cage wrapped in plastic and leave her to suffer from heatstroke or endure a slow, agonizing death by suffocation,” Colleen O’Brien, PETA vice president, said in a statement. “PETA urges anyone with information about this case to come forward immediately, before anyone else gets hurt.”

Woodhaven Police Lt. Frank Miller earlier this week said he had fielded a number of calls with people offering information that might help police locate a woman seen Sunday near the animal shelter, fleeing in a light-colored 2010-13 Lexus RX SUV.

Anyone who recognizes the car or the dog is asked to call police at (734) 676-7337.

HFournier@detroitnews.com

(313) 223-4616

Twitter: @HollyPFournier

Staff writer Ian Thibodeau contributed