Toby and Sunny are two Labrador-shepherd mixes that were left out in the cold by their owner. The two were found late last month after an employee at a Sunoco gas station in Cromwell called animal control to say there were two dogs tied to pole outside.
"It just amazes me how someone could do that. Why not give it to somebody?" said Sal Pepitone of Higganum.
"To leave them tied on a cold morning, and it was cold that morning, outside with nothing just wasn't right," said Cheryl Gagnon, Cromwell's Animal Control Officer.
Gagnon doesn't know why the two dogs were left, but she says this was an act of animal cruelty.
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"The worst thing is to dump a dog, it really is. I mean, if the store didn't open that morning, or she was just a little bit frailer, she could have died. We could have found two frozen dogs there," said Gagnon.
Gagnon took Toby and Sunny in and has been nursing them back to health over the past month at a packed shelter. The two dogs are old, but they're both in good spirits.
Now Toby and Sunny are looking for a permanent home. They need someone to adopt them.
"I would really like to keep them together mainly because they do so well together. They've probably been together all their lives, and Toby watches out for Sunny. Right now they're in separate cages, and Toby sits there and barks at her across the way," said Gagnon.
She does warn that adopting a dog is a lifetime commitment, not just a frivolous holiday gift. However, if you want to give a dog a loving home, Toby and Sunny would be great additions to the family.
"Even though they're older dogs, they'd make great pets. They just want to be loved," said Gagnon.
To adopt Toby and Sunny, or any other shelter pet, contact Gagnon at Cromwell Animal Control or click here on the Petfinder website.
The Cromwell Animal Shelter also accepts monetary donations made out to the Special Needs for Pets Fund.
