When Officer Ashley Sanchez, at Eastpointe Police Animal Control Division in Michigan, received a call from a woman who reported a stray dog roaming around her home, she couldn’t imagine the heartbreaking discovery she was about to make.
Sanchez arrived at the family address and found a senior malnourished dog on the porch.
The officer talked to the woman who claimed that she was afraid of the dog and asked the officer to take him to the shelter. She insisted that she had never seen him before.
While talking to the woman, Sanchez noticed that the dog kept trying to enter the house.
The kind officer felt that something didn’t add up, and she was right.
The Shocking Truth
While Sanchez carried the doggo to the truck, he kept looking at the house with a confused look on his face.
The officer scanned him for a microchip and discovered the shocking truth.
The dog’s name was Duke, and he belonged to the woman who called animal control and reported him as a stray.
The fourteen-year-old Duke spent his whole life with his family, who disowned him when he most needed their love.
Sanchez was heartbroken.
When Detroit Pit Crew Dog Rescue, a rescue that helps stray, injured, and sick dogs in Detroit, learned about Duke’s story, they decided to cover his medical expenses.
The doggo was taken to the emergency clinic, where the vet team examined him.
Apart from being emaciated, Duke was diagnosed with Lyme disease, and his bloodwork was alarming.
The doggo started receiving the necessary treatment.
The rescue promised the dog that they would do everything in their power to help him find a loving family as soon as he made a full recovery.
Duke Is Recovering
On April 12th of 2025, Detroit Pit Crew Dog Rescue shared a video update about Duke.
They talked to Officer Sanchez while she was feeding the malnourished and dehydrated dog and stroking him tenderly.
The dog ate his meal in a hurry and kissed Sanchez’s face as if he wanted to thank her for everything.
The officer recalled how Duke kept trying to enter his home on the day his owner abandoned him.
“She knowingly abandoned him… He kept going from his front door, then kept going to the side back gate, just trying to get in his property. He didn’t understand why he was out there,” Sanchez said in the update shared on Facebook.
When the animal control officer found out the truth, she tried to talk to the dog owner and confront her, but the woman refused to open the door.
Sanchez revealed that she spoke to a prosecutor and that Duke’s owner will be cited for multiple offenses, including filing a false police report.
Fortunately, the doggo is getting better. I hope that he will soon forget the heartbreak he experienced and find an amazing family who will love him and cherish him.