After being abandoned on a roadside in a container in Dedham, Massachusetts, on July 23, the Pomeranian is getting ready for adoption.
In a statement posted on Facebook on Monday, the Dedham Police Department claimed that it had “exhausted all leads” in trying to figure out who had abandoned the puppy by the side of the road.
“Unfortunately none of [our leads] have led us to whom may have left the dog outside in the heat, in a crate, on the side of the road — nor any circumstances surrounding why the dog was abandoned there.”
“The dog, being called ‘Buzz’ (since he was found off Bussey Street) is now under the care of the Animal Rescue League of Boston (ARL), where he is receiving a comprehensive veterinary exam, vaccines and preventives,” the department wrote Monday, adding that Buzz will be available for adoption once those exams are complete.
Asserting that it will “always exercise whatever investigative means are necessary to bring justice for animals that have been abused, neglected, or abandoned,” the Dedham Police Department noted on Monday that every Massachusetts community has resources to assist anyone who decides they can no longer care for a pet.
According to WCVB, the Dedham Police Department determines that the Pomeranian is between 3 and 5 years old.
“What makes it even worse are the circumstances surrounding his abandonment,” Dedham Animal Control Officer Deni Goldman told WCVB about Buzz. “He was left in a black crate on the side of the road with a blanket and a sweater next to him, no water, in the blazing hot sun in the middle of the heatwave.”
Goldman told PEOPLE in an email Tuesday that while it is unclear how long Buzz was left alone on the side of the road, the dog was likely found shortly after his abandonment since “he was not displaying any signs of serious heat exhaustion or dehydration — yet.”
Buzz’s abandonment was the second similar instance documented in Dedham in the previous three months, according to Goldman, who claimed to have worked in animal control since 2002.
“I have never seen numbers of ‘found’ dogs who have gone unclaimed by their owners that compare to the number of those being reported as this year — much less those cases we have had in our own town,” she wrote in a statement.
“I (and other Animal Control Officers) am continuously stressing to animal owners that if they cannot keep their animals, to contact us and/or other agencies that provide shelter/rescue capabilities – because we WILL help them to surrender their animals – and that simply abandoning their animals is not only discouraged, but it is considered Animal Cruelty in Massachusetts,” she added. “Animal Cruelty is a felony.”
A representative from the Animal Rescue League of Boston told PEOPLE in a statement Tuesday that Buzz “was very lucky to be found when he was because that ordeal did not impact his overall health.”
“Aside from matted fur and evidence of flea bites, he is in very good health,” the ARL said in an email statement. “ARL is providing ongoing care and assessing him behaviorally and is very much looking forward to finding him the forever home that he deserves.”
