Dog left chained up behind Walmart chews off paw

Roseville Police are searching for two men who left a dog chained up behind a Walmart on Sunday, forcing the dog to chew off its paw as it tried to escape the bitter cold.

The dog, which has since been named Courtney, is expected to recover, said Diana Rascano, president and cofounder of 4 Paws 1 Heart.

Courtney, a mixed breed around the age of 2, was found Sunday by a Walmart employee who noticed the dog was tied up. The employee called the police, who then notified an animal control officer. The officer works closely with the Hopeful Heart Rescue organization based out of Roseville, led by Melanie Wittner, who assisted in Courtney's rescue.

Roseville Police said two men were seen on surveillance tape leaving the area before Courtney was found.

"At the same time that was going on, Melanie and I were getting phone calls," Rascano said, adding that her organization pays for medical bills for abandoned animals. "We had no idea if the dog had a legitimate amputation or what the situation was. We discovered that she had actually chewed her paw off. The leash, it was like a cable, it was very thick and had tied around her leg and actually acted as a tourniquet."

Rascano said the veterinarian believes Courtney's leg became so numb that she chewed it off and consumed her paw.

"She was trying to get away," Rascano said. "The vet said what saved her was the tourniquet that caused the blood flow to stop, and the subfreezing weather may have frozen some of the wound so that she didn't bleed to death."

Courtney was rushed into emergency surgery later that evening. Rascano said the veterinarian had to make a split decision on whether to save or amputate her hind leg. "They thought the toxins could have easily gotten into her blood system," she said. "They amputated it; it was just something we couldn't wait for."

Rascano said after the amputation, another horrifying discovery was made. "They felt a lump in her stomach and saw there were shards of bones, which were her paw," she said. "She had not only chewed it but eaten it. They had to do surgery because the shards from the bone could have caused issues with her intestine."

The two emergency surgeries cost around $2,000.

Rascano said Courtney is a "sweetheart" and the traumatic experience has not impacted her friendly demeanor. Rascano said Wittner's Hopeful Heart Rescue will handle Courtney's adoption. The rescue has already received a couple of inquiries.

"She's been walking around licking everyone," she said. "She's just the sweetest dog. It seems like she belonged to someone at one time and how she winded up in that situation, we don't know, but she will never have to go through that again."

Contact Katrease Stafford: kstafford@freepress.com or 313-223-4759. Follow her on Twitter @KatreaseS_Freep.