COAL TOWNSHIP - A severely injured puppy found this weekend at the bottom of a cliff behind Springfield Cemetery is suffering from brain trauma, and its outlook for recovery looks grim.
It's unclear if the nearly three-month-old puppy, a female brindle pit bull, had wandered into the wooded area and fell or was intentionally thrown from the cliff, said Cheryl Hill, owner of Mostly Mutts, a no-kill animal shelter in the Sunbury area.
"There's no houses close to that area, but it somehow got over the bank," she said Monday.
Patrolman David Sage, Coal Township police, refused to provide any details related to the incident Monday night, saying the investigation is ongoing.
The puppy remains at Sunbury Animal Hospital, where it was first taken Saturday. Because its brain is badly swollen, veterinarians can't give it much pain medication, Hill said. It is, however, on medication to ease the swelling.
The puppy was barely breathing Saturday, a condition that hasn't much improved, and it couldn't move its legs, she said.
On Monday, its legs were more flexible and Hill believed its left eye was more focused, but added that it was still in bad condition.
It's important, she said, that the puppy improves enough to stand and move on its own.
"If that doesn't improve and go in that direction, the only other option is to put it to sleep," Hill said.
But, she said, she remains optimistic.
"When I brought her in, I thought I brought in a dead dog already," Hill said.
Hill said she was contacted about 4:30 p.m. Saturday after someone found the puppy. She said she met the caller in Paxinos and based on the puppy's injuries, immediately drove it to Sunbury Animal Hospital.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Coal Township police at 644-0333.