‘Sweet’ dog found in dumpster was at risk of being put down. Then came a second chance

A “sweet” dog found in a dumpster was at risk of being put down — then she got a second chance.

The North Carolina pup now has a fresh start across the border in South Carolina, a rescue organization said.

“She rolled over and let us rub her belly, which gave us the sign that let us know she’s safe,” Victoria McGonigal, owner of Dochas N Gra Animal Rescue in South Carolina, told McClatchy News in a July 10 phone interview.

Sadie the dog — now called Sydney — kicked off her next chapter after an animal service officer found her in a dumpster. The “sweet and gentle” pup was lying on top of trash inside the garbage bin, according to a heartbreaking photo shared on Facebook and details a North Carolina shelter told McClatchy News in an email.

“She bit her owner after being provoked,” Cumberland County Animal Services wrote on social media. “Sadie pottied in the house and she bit her owner after being physically disciplined. After the incident, the owner threw her in the dumpster.”

In its post, the shelter also said Sadie was urgently in need of a nonprofit rescue organization to take her due to the biting incident. While she waited, she had an upper respiratory infection and faced the possibility of being euthanized.

Then, Dochas N Gra heard about the pup and decided to give her a new home , the rescue wrote on Facebook.

“Don’t give up on the ones that seem like they’re a lost hope,” McGonigal told McClatchy News.

The rescue took in the pup and gave her the new name Sydney. She’s believed to be a 2-year-old mixed-breed dog who’s happy and loves belly rubs.

After Sydney gets medical treatment, McGonigal said she will receive training to be a farm dog. Then, she may be adopted or spend the rest of her life at the rescue in Chesterfield, a roughly 85-mile drive northeast from Columbia.

Back in North Carolina, “Animal Services has no authority to bring forward any charges” in her owner’s case, Cumberland County officials said. The county’s shelter is in Fayetteville, a roughly 65-mile drive southwest from Raleigh.

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