A blind puppy was found tied to a poll “pleading for help” in Florida as the state prepared for the imminent onslaught of Hurricane Milton.
The harrowing ordeal of the puppy, affectionately named Ginger Spice, came to light after Linus & Friends, a nonprofit animal rescue based in New York City and Central Florida, shared her story to TikTok under the handle linusrescue.
According to Linus & Friends, Ginger Spice was found “skinny, sick and pleading for help” tied to a pole during Hurricane Milton.
“She appears to have been born blind,” Jen Ligeti from Linus & Friends told Newsweek. “We have no idea why she was tied up and left there. Could be that the abandoner thought she wouldnt live anyway.”
Hurricane Milton laid waste to significant parts of Florida with multiple deaths reported in the immediate aftermath.
Several pets ended up facing the full brunt of the hurricane. One woman described the moment her cat was swept away, only for things to take an unexpected twist.
In another instance, a dog was left to fend of itself as the hurricane approached.
Ginger Spice would have undoubtedly been terrified prior to her rescue, unsure of her surroundings yet unable to escape to any form of shelter.
Ligeti thinks that whoever abandoned her there “most likely” assumed she would fall victim to the hurricane.
Thankfully that was not the case. Someone did come to Ginger Spice’s aid and she wound up with Linus & Friends.
Ligeti described the mixed emotions that greeted Ginger Spice’s arrival at the shelter. While she was “upset” that someone could do something like this to an innocent dog, she was more “just relieved she was rescued.”
Sadly, Ligeti says, that while this might be at the extreme end of the scale, abandonments like this are becoming an all too familiar problem.
“Unfortunately there are more surrenders than adoptions and people abandoning pets because shelters and rescues are full,” she said.
In the video posted to TikTok, Linus & Friends pledged to help Ginger Spice find the “peaceful life she deserves.” After receiving treatment from a veterinarian, Ginger Spice spent time with a foster carer.
Then the best possible thing happened.
“Ginger Spice was adopted,” Ligeti confirmed. “She has moved to upstate New York to live with a new owner who already has another blind pit bull.”
Ligeti is relieved to see Ginger Spice find a happy forever home and she has a message for whoever it was that left her out there on that pole as the hurricane approached.
“There’s always better options than tying her up to a pole before a storm,” she said. “Try and reach out for help and if you really have no choice to abandon her before a hurricane at least leave her inside somewhere with food and water and let someone know where she is.”
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