Animal Rescue League searching for owner who abandoned dog

DEDHAM, Mass. -- He is young, he is starving, and tonight he is lucky to be alive.

Workers at the Animal Rescue League of Boston are just calling him Stitch.

"He was found in like a plastic tub, a big tote," Lt. Alan Borgal with the ARL said. "If the dog had gotten out of that tote and wandered off he probably wouldn't have survived more than a few hours. "

The pit bull mix is believed to be around 2 years old, he was found Monday afternoon abandoned near Bridge Street in Dedham.

"Awful condition. Severely emaciated. Cachexia, which means body wasting. It's feeding off its own body now," Borgal said.

Authorities can't say exactly where the dog was left, but they say he was abandoned outside of a business on this street.

A Dedham Animal Control Officer found Stitch after a tip came in by phone.

He turned the emaciated dog over to the Animal Rescue League of Boston, which is investigating the abandonment of Stitch as a felony.

"It's cruel abandonment. And this dog has obviously been severely neglected. And obviously has suffered," Borgal said.

For now, Stitch is in the care of a team of veterinarians with expertise in emergency cases.

He may be skin-and-bones starving, but once stitches gets back on his feet he'll be looking for a loving home.