The sound of muffled cries brought neighbors to a dumpster in a Suburban West Palm Beach apartment complex.

(Photo courtesy of Cody Jackson, Blain Logan of WPTV)  Along with beer cans, food and other trash, they found a dog inside a sealed garbage bag.

Animal Care and Control's Captain David Walesky tells NewsChannel 5, "This is one of the worst things we've seen."

The Jack Russell terrier mix was found critically hurt.

As Walesky explains, he has,"head trauma, his eye's protruded, he has a skull fracture, he has possible neck injuries."

Animal Care and Control officers were quick to call it abuse.

Director Dianne Suave calls the finding, "horrific by any standards."

As the dog went in for surgery, investigators began searching for the person responsible and the dog's owner.

Then, near the dumpster, we met Lisa Franklin who claims she's been searching for her missing terrier.

When she asked why NewsChannel 5 photojournalist Cody Jackson was in her apartment complex, a neighbor gave her the news.

Franklin explains, "I'm like, 'what dog?' She's like, 'Oh, um, it was your dog."

Franklin called her husband who she claims told her he saw their dog today and thought he was dead.

Although she sounded furious as she responded, "When they found him in that bag he was still alive," Franklin then told investigators her husband was not involved.

Instead, she says, her dog nicknamed 'Bad' was hit by a car and someone threw him in the trash.

Crying, she says, "That's horrible cause they should have checked!"

As 'Bad' tries to make it through the night, investigators say, hit by a car or not, this is still considered a serious case of abuse.

Sauve explains, "There's little doubt in our mind that whoever put this dog into a garbage bag and sealed it and placed it into a dumpster knew this dog was alive."

Update 12/20/08:  A Palm Beach County woman is heartbroken, after her pet was found in a dumpster near her home - injured and left for dead.

The dog was taken to Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control, where it's fighting for its life.

"It shocked me, I couldn't believe it," said Carlisa Franklin.

With tears in her eyes, the dog owner reacts to what neighbors had just told her. That her dog was found in a dumpster right across from her apartment, barely alive.

"I'm not good, because I had no idea. And they said he was yelping in the bag when they took him," added Franklin.

According to officials with Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control, the terrier mix was pulled out of a dumpster along Brandywine Drive, Friday afternoon. The severely injured dog was placed, with garbage, inside a garbage bag.

A passerby heard cries and flagged down a sheriff's deputy who rescued the dog.

"It's horrible, I can't imagine why anyone would do this. There are animal shelters all over this county. It's very easy to take a dog, regardless of what happened, whether it was an accident. You can take the animal somewhere and do the right thing," said operations manager with Palm Beach County Animal Care & Control, Cpt. David Walesky.

The dog, who Franklin says is named Bad-Bad, was taken to animal control with a list of injuries, including a fractured skull and possible neck injuries. Franklin says she was told someone hit Bad-bad with a vehicle, and thinking he was dead, threw him away.

"You don't just put a dog in a bag and put it in the dumpster, dead or not. You bury it like you bury your own," she said.

Now she's hoping her pet, who Franklin says she helped deliver, will pull through.

"I'm really sad because my kids loved him. You know they really loved him."

Anyone with information is asked to call Palm Beach County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS.

Reference:

WPTV

CBS 12