As Puppy Fights For Its Life, Vet Tech Wonders Why Owners Didn't Seek Help

It was just about time to close up for the day, Jennifer Doherty said, when a woman walked in the door at the Brick Town Veterinary Hospital.

The woman was carrying an ill puppy and begged Doherty, who is a veterinary technician at the hospital, and her boyfriend, Dr. Damian Mazzocchi, to take a look.

The puppy was comatose — "it was hypoglycemic," Doherty said, with blood sugar levels that wouldn't even register. In addition, the puppy was covered in fleas and anemic. The puppy's sister also was covered in fleas and anemic.

The woman, whom Doherty didn't identify, had found the puppy and her sister in a box outside the Dollar General on Fischer Boulevard in Toms River on Friday night. The woman had searched all day Saturday for a vet to help the puppies before walking into Brick Town Veterinary Hospital, she said.

"We took her as an emergency," Doherty said. "One more day and the puppy would have died."

Now Doherty is hoping to help locate the person responsible for dumping the puppies — not to press charges, but to educate them.

"I just don't understand why someone would do that," she said. "In this day and age there's so many rescues, so many Facebook outlets where you can get help."

"It just doesn't make any sense," Doherty said.

Doherty and Mazzocchi are fostering the two puppies because the one that was critically ill needs around-the-clock care, which was beyond what the woman who found them could afford.

"She was willing to pay for the care we gave them," Doherty said. But round-the-clock veterinary care is expensive, the tech acknowledged.

Doherty said she initially wondered if the woman was the puppies' owner. But Doherty posted the story about the puppies on her personal Facebook page and a friend confirmed hearing an exchange between the woman and the staff at a vet's office where they refused to see the puppies because the woman didn't have an appointment.

"She was willing to pay for whatever we did yesterday," Doherty said. But round-the-clock veterinary care is expensive, the tech acknowledged.

The puppy who was comatose is improving, Doherty said, "but she's not out of the woods yet. She's eating but she's still super weak."

And both puppies, which are being kept in incubators, have rancid diarrhea, Doherty said.

"I've been asking friends for old towels because I just throw them away," she said. "I can't risk my other dogs getting sick."

Doherty hopes someone will recognize the puppies and identify the owner so she can make sure the person knows there are resources to help.

"Reach out for help, don't just dump them," she said. "These puppies are so adorable; they probably could have sold them"

If you have any information about the owner, you can contact Doherty by email at techsitting@gmail.com. You can also email her if you have towels you are willing to contribute to help with the fostering.

Photos courtesy of Jennifer Doherty