BOSTON (WHDH) - The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is looking for the owners of a mini poodle-mix that was found hungry and tied to a tree in Melrose last week.
A good Samaritan brought the 6-year-old pup, now named Sassel, to the Angell Animal Medical Center last Friday after finding him tied to a tree inside the Middlesex Fells Reservation, according to the MSPCA.
Sassell arrived skinny and hungry with no identification tags or a microchip, the MSPCA added.
The dog is serving a mandatory seven-day stray hold, which is set to expire this Friday. If no one comes forward to claim him, the MSPCA will place the pup up for adoption.
Victoria Odynsky, of the MSPCA’s adoption center in Boston, described Sassel as “so cute and outgoing — just a very friendly dog who we think will do wonderfully in almost any home.”
The MSPCA presumes Sassel was abandoned but that it is possible he got lost and a stranger tethered him, hoping his owner would come along.
“If no one claims him, we will set about finding a wonderful adoptive home,” Odynsky said.
Since the coronavirus outbreak began, the MSPCA has had seven animals surrendered to them — three of which were given up because their owner died or became too ill to care for them, and four because of the financial impact of pandemic.
One of those animals was a 7-year-old cat named Heidi, who is still looking for a forever home.
The MSPCA-Angell’s three animal care and adoption centers—in Boston, Methuen, and Centerville on Cape Cod—have now placed more than 400 animals into new homes since the pandemic began, and has doubled down on efforts to support vulnerable pet owners who’ve been impacted by the foundering economy.
To date, the organization has distributed more than 124,000 pet meals to food pantries around the state and offered subsidized healthcare to more than pets.
You can learn more about adoptable animals and can donate to the MSPCA here.
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