1 Pup Dead, Another Recovering After Being Left In Dumpster

By Jennifer Mayerle, WCCO-TV

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- Police want to know who dumped two puppies in a recycling dumpster behind an animal hospital in St. Paul this week.

By the time they were found, one had died. The dog who survived is on his way to a full recovery.

Wendy Granroos, the hospital manager at Scenic Hills Animal Hospital, found the pup, and they named him Scrappy Wednesday morning.

"I lifted the lid of the recycling bin," Granroos said. "Saw his little face and his little eyes, and he was really cowered down in the bin."

That's when she ran inside the animal hospital for back up.

"Actually the puppies were right on the side, right in the recycling, sitting in the corner," said veterinary technician Michelle Spitzmueller.

She climbed in to save the 7-month-old shepherd mix.

"Just climbed right over, threw a leg up," Spitzmueller said.

They think the person who dumped the pups must've wanted them to be found and cared for since they were left behind the animal hospital. But the find was too late for Scrappy's brother.

"That's the hardest thing is: Could we have saved that puppy that day?" Spitzmueller said. "We work with animals that are healthy all day, practice getting them healthy and then to see something like that is very tough."

Scrappy looked scrawny when they found him, but he's doing much better.

"He has put on 5 pounds in two days, so he was a lot thinner," Granroos said. "You can still see his hip bones and his ribs but he looks so much better."

Scrappy's name came from the place where he was found.

"We were looking up recycling terms, and then I saw scrap and I'm like, 'We can name him Scrappy,'" veterinarian Mary McCarl said.

They want Scrappy to find a home, with a family to love and care for him.

"He knows how to get his way into people's hearts," McCarl said. "He has us all wrapped around his finger."

People are already lining up to adopt Scrappy. But they will have to wait until the police investigation is complete.

That may take a few weeks.