CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — Update, Jan. 25: Speranza Animal Rescue announced that GI Joe spent the night at a volunteer's house last night and is scheduled to move in with a foster family today.
The rescue says he will live with two other dogs at his foster family's house, one of which is also blind.
"His foster momma is retired and also has experience with epileptic dogs!" Speranza said on Facebook. "Sounds like the perfect situation for our sweet sweet boy."
Previously: A severely malnourished dog was found inside an Amazon box in Mechanicsburg, according to one animal rescue.
According to a Facebook post by the Speranza Animal Rescue, the dog was dropped off on a porch, near death. He was unconscious and barely breathing.
The dog, nicknamed "GI Joe", was having seizures, covered in feces and urine and his pupils weren't responding to light. According to Speranza, GI Joe is just under a year old.
Two notes were on the box, reading:
"I am also deaf. I'm a very good dog but my last owner only had me for a month and wasn't told I was sick. I ate something my last owner don't know what wrong. Please help me. She loves me very much and don't know how to help me because she doesn't have any money because she is sick."
Speranza Animal Rescue has been working to bring GI Joe back to life. According to a recent update, "He has been resting on IV fluids in the ICU since [Monday] night and is tolerating treatments. He is still out of it but did stand up once!! And is able to rotate himself around the cage a little."
Doctors aren't quite sure what happened, but he could be suffering from distemper, rare tick-borne diseases, an infectious disease or he could be seizing due to a lack of nutrition.
"Without knowing his history, we know nothing about how long these seizures have been happening. The ONLY thing giving us hope right now is he's fighting," Speranza Animal Rescue wrote in a Facebook update. "He's trying to stand [but] needs assistance doing it."
According to the latest updates, GI Joe is doing "great." He's even up and eating on his own, according to Speranza.
"The dog that was unresponsive yesterday and having violent seizures is UP AND EATING," officials with the non-profit wrote.
It's unclear if GI Joe's vision will return, but the results are expected to come back in a couple of days.
Anyone with information on GI Joe and his history has been asked to contact Speranza through any of the following methods:
- Email: info@speranzarescue.org
- Phone: (717) 609-6020
If GI Joe's recovery continues to trend upward, he could be in foster care this week, according to Speranza.