Puppy rescued by sanitation workers, gets surgery

Tonawanda News — NIAGARA FALLS — Thankfully, they did not find the puppy in the garbage can, as initial reports on Thursday had claimed. 

But, it appeared the little 8-week old pit bull has not been treated kindly by humans … until she was discovered by two sanitation workers in Niagara Falls Wednesday morning who likely changed her fate with their compassion.

For now, she has been dubbed Gladys, and she was found on a chilly, 42 degree day in a Niagara Falls alley between 29th and 30th streets by Lyle Rounds and Jim Fisher of Modern Corp. Rounds had just dumped two cans in the back of his truck and saw the puppy, curled in a fetal position on the ground, when he went to set down the cans. Rounds said he stared at her for a moment in shock. Her jaw had been knocked out of alignment and her face was misshapen.

He quickly alerted his partner, Fisher, who used his jacket to hold and warm the puppy.

“She was all mangled up,” said Fisher, who quickly alerted his boss. “But she curled right into my arms and started licking my face.” The police arrived on the scene and took the dog to the SPCA. The two workers went on with their rounds, but not before Fisher sent a photo of the puppy to his daughter. She got busy Facebooking the photo and it pretty quickly made the social media rounds, propelled by local animal lovers.

“By the time I got home from work I saw the photo on TV,” Fisher laughed.

Amy Lewis, director of the SPCA of Niagara, said the Internet buzz helped to raise the $ 2,000 for the puppy's much-needed surgery by a vet dental