Horrified, heartbroken and worried. That’s likely the range of emotions animal control officers from Baltimore, Maryland felt when they made a shocking discovery last night.

The Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS) posted what happened in this gut wrenching story on the nonprofit group’s Facebook page.

Officers responded to a call about a little dog abandoned on a front stoop. When they arrived they got their first terrifying glimpse of Florie. She was walking slowly up the street, dragging a pink leash behind her. Her mouth was severely, and tragically injured. They knew they knew they had to act quickly to save her.

BARCS wrote, “The officer could see right away that something was terribly wrong with Florie. Her muzzle was infected, and she couldn't open her mouth. A resident in the neighborhood told the officer that poor Florie was abandoned the night before after being tied to a nearby gate.”

Officers raced Florie to an emergency clinic where they discovered a rubber band was wrapped, twice, around her mouth. It was embedded into her skin and actually severed parts of her muzzle. The clinic believes she was living like this for quite some time. 

BARCS committed to helping this pup and is asking for donations to help Florie, who may need multiple surgeries in the future and is at risk of losing her muzzle.

The rescue group’s Facebook page pledges they will do all they can for the dog.

“Sweet Florie, you deserve the world and more, and we promise you nothing short of that for the rest of your days. There are humans who will treat you as family, and keep your needs close to their heart. Once you are fully healed, we are going to find them for you. Thank you for trusting us in what will be a long journey.”

Florie was picked up in the 21229 zip code in Baltimore. If you have any information on who did this please contact the Baltimore Police.

Sadly, these cases of people putting constrictive materials around dogs’ muzzles keep happening. Just last month Watchdog Mary wrote about a pup saved in Indiana after someone taped his mouth shut and threw him off a bridge.

And Watchdog Mary helped save this dog found running down a rural road with duct tape around his mouth.

Seriously, sickos, this has got to stop. It’s disgusting.