Man making business stop finds puppy in shed with chemical burns

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — A puppy is fighting for his life after being found in a shed with chemical burns in Cabarrus County.

Concord resident Matthew Morin, a tool salesman, was making a business stop in Kannapolis when he came across the dog in the shed blocked in by a grate. The animal was badly injured.

"I haven't cried in a long time and this really hit me,” Morin said. “I showed up at my customer's shop Wednesday morning and went to go get my payment as usual, and he told me, he came running saying ‘There's a dog outside, there's a dog outside!’ So I went around the corner and looked in the shed, and there he laid, bleeding. It was terrible."

Morin walked Channel 9 reporter Elsa Gillis back to the shed where the abandoned dog was found.

"How could somebody do that to a dog and leave him for dead? That's what they did,” Morin said.

Morin immediately called the police, shelters and anyone he could think of.

The Cabarrus County Animal Shelter took in the puppy. From there, a call was made to Imagine Pet Rescue in Savannah, Georgia, which specializes in dogs with medical needs.

"I actually run the three veterinary hospitals here and been in veterinary medicine for 30 years and this is the worst case I've ever seen,” said Cindy McManus, the shelter’s owner.

She said the dog, who has been named Ian, has another 3-4 months of recovery to go through that will involve constant care and more surgery.

McManus said the dog suffered severe burns across his body. Now, he is up walking and wagging his tail.

(WATCH: Ian, a puppy, is recovering after he was found badly injured in Kannapolis)

Morin said he is hoping to adopt Ian once the pup is better.

"He needs a loving home, and I've got two girls, a wife, they love animals and that's all I know,” Morin said.

McManus said there is no doubt that this is an animal abuse case. She said that although Ian has a long road ahead, he is already getting better.

“He had a really good night, yesterday they debride all his wounds, you know, loaded him up with painkillers, bandaged him up, so he had a good night,” McManus said.

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