Abandoned Puppy On 'Brink Of Death’ Showing Improvement, SPCA Says

NEPTUNE, NJ - A puppy found on a Jersey Shore street last week has been showing “great improvement” while in the care of the county animal rescue, officials said.

Matilda, a 10-week-old pit bull puppy, has been gaining weight slowly and safely, now standing at 9.7 pounds (she was 5.1 pounds on intake), the Monmouth County SPCA said in a Facebook update.

“There have been scary moments where she was not responding to our treatment and we feared the absolute worst - but we kept our hopes up and our fingers crossed,” the SPCA wrote. “We are so happy to share that Matilda has been making tremendous strides in the RIGHT direction”.

The puppy, which police describe as "severely emaciated," was found by a passerby last week near the intersection of Bangs and Myrtle avenues in Neptune, about two blocks from the good samaritan’s home on Monroe Avenue, Patch previously reported.

While the passerby first took the dog in, he contacted the Monmouth SPCA's emergency number at around noon the next day when he realized the puppy was too sick for him to adequately care for her.

Once admitted by the SPCA, Matilda was found to be “skin and bones” with labored breathing, unable to lift her head and on “the brink of death,” the SPCA previously said.

“We rushed her to our shelter for urgent medical care, she was shaking and whimpering and we weren't sure she was going to make it,” the SPCA said. “We wrapped Matilda in warm blankets and began IV fluids to try and give this tiny girl some life.”

Matilda is expected to be in foster care with the SPCA for roughly another month until she’s healthy to be considered for adoption, the organization said Monday.

“We are SO grateful to have had such a rally by our community for this sweet little girl,” the SPCA wrote in its latest statement, “your kind words, donations, calls, and messages really remind us why we do what we do here at the Monmouth County SPCA - thank you so much.”

Anyone with information about who neglected to feed this dog and then abandoned it is urged to contact SPCA investigators at 732-440-1539. Animal cruelty charges in New Jersey can include third- and fourth-degree criminal offenses, punishable by a maximum of five years in state prison.

“The degree of neglect this defenseless puppy endured to wind up in the state she is currently in is, in a word, unfathomable,” Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago previously said. “We are hopeful that someone who lives in or frequents this area may have some information that would allow us to identify who is responsible."