The Windsor/Essex County Humane Society (WECHS) says no animal deserves to be left alone and afraid.
The message comes after a dog was left unattended outside in the cold at the shelter Wednesday morning.
"It was left where we have a cage for wildlife that people can leave," says WECHS Executive Director Lynnette Bain. "So we promptly went out and attended to the dog and determined that it had a leg bandaged up and it was a broken femur."
Bain says the dog was spotted by a volunteer and is being examined by the humane society's medical team, and the team is determining next steps on how to treat the dog.
She says the dog appears to be a senior, female dog.
"It's a miniature pinscher; people call them minpins, so yeah, just kind of confused, scared, frightened, and cold," she says. "It hadn't been in there very long so luckily we were able to get it quickly and give it attention right away."
Bain says it appears the dog's injury isn't new.
"By looking at the x-rays, it was determined it had been present for some time," says Bain. "So our medical team is assessing right now what the next stops are going to be for that dog and how they're going to treat it."
She says pet abandonments are happening.
"It happened with a cat a couple of weeks ago and unfortunately that one was left over night, a young cat and luckily the cat has recovered but we thought with this happening again, we just want to create some awareness out there that if someone needs help to connect us, to work with us and we'll find a way, that's never the answer, there's always another way," she says.
On Wednesday, the humane society posted on social media about the injured dog.
The post says "Sadly, abandonments like this are something we see far too often."
The post went on to say, "If you need to surrender your pet but are worried about the fee, please talk to us. Our team will work with you to find a solution."
Since the post, Bain says the humane society has received a couple of tips about the dog.
She says an investigation is being done by Animal Welfare Services.
According to the humane society's website, it costs $60 but there are additional fees if a surrender happens without an appointment.
For a cat, it's $30 but there are additional fees if the surrender happens without an appointment.