Dog Guarding Trash Bag of Bones From Dead Friend Rescued: 'At Peace Now'

Being called out to an abandoned dog is nothing new for Renegade Paws Rescue. But the team from the pet rescue center in Savannah, Georgia, has been faced with an even more heartbreaking discovery.

A phone call alerted Renegade Paws Rescue worker Yvonne DeDaviess to the abandoned dog hiding underneath a house in Savannah, and before long the team had picked up Lloyd—a six-year-old cross-breed dog.

"A friend of mine called me and usually if somebody calls me super early non-stop in the morning, it's 9 times out of 10 to come and rescue an animal," DeDaviess told Newsweek. "He was hanging out underneath her house for a couple of weeks. When I first got there she actually got him out from underneath the house and he seemed ready to go."

But once she had collected Lloyd, her friend told her about a bag that had been left on the grassy sidewalk across the street at the same time as the dog appeared.

"She told me that the dog was over at that bag, and they both appeared around the same time," said DeDaviess.

Her friend was avoiding the bag as a result of the smell coming from it, and when they put Lloyd in the car, he kept looking at the bag.

That was when they made a heartbreaking discovery.

"We walked over and [my friend] was like, well, it was kind of wrapped neatly when it first appeared, but now obviously it's not. So I just started spreading the bag and sadly, that's when we found out that it was the remains of dogs," said DeDaviess.

Director and founder of Renegade Paws Rescue Jennifer Taylor told Newsweek: "It still had hair and had a skull. It had bones. But it's very hot here—we're hitting like 106 degrees real feel temperature. It's very humid."

"So the decomposing time frame is really rapid here," explained DeDaviess.

Despite scanning for a microchip, the Renegade team were unable to identify any chip in the remains.

"Whether or not he knew this dog or it was just instincts of a dog knowing that that's another dog—who knows what his story is, we don't know," said DeDaviess.

"So we named the bones Liberty because that's the little subdivision that it was found in, Liberty City," said DeDaviess. "I basically took the remains and buried them on my property underneath the tree so that it would have a proper burial."

In a Facebook post telling Lloyd's story, shelter worker Amy Galletta wrote a touching message to the pup: "Lloyd, we don't know what you have been through or who your friend was, but we can promise you that the rest of your life you will be loved the way that you loved. Your friend is at peace now and you are safe."

The day after coming to the shelter, Lloyd was noticeably sad and was yet to come out of his shell.

After a medical check up, they found that he had heartworm. Heartworm disease in dogs is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition cause by parasitic worms.

When mosquitos carrying the larvae bite a dog, it is transferred into the dog's bloodstream. Untreated, it can lead to complications including difficulty breathing, weight loss and even heart failure.

Heartworm is relatively common, particularly in warmer climates, and can be treated but requires a course of medication that can be expensive.

As soon as he came to the shelter, the Renegade team started him on heartworm treatment and he is now settling into his new environment.

"He's been loving the air conditioning," said Taylor. "Yesterday we learned he likes to play fetch, we played with the ball a little bit and had a great time."

"He's certainly starting to show his true colors and his personality is coming out," agreed DeDaviess.

Before he is ready to be adopted to a new home, Lloyd will also be neutered and is likely to go to a foster home first.

Despite the heartbreaking nature of Lloyd and Liberty's story, the team at Renegade said it is important that people see the reality of animal rescue.

"I think for me and our volunteers, it's important that they be recognized on some level for the hard work that they put in, because this s*** is not easy," said Taylor. "We see sad stuff every day. I don't know how half these girls aren't crying all the time. They're so strong."

As a charity, the Renegade Paws Rescue team also relies wholly on donations from the public, making sharing their stories even more important.

"Rescue isn't free. So yeah, we have to put the stories out there. Every dime that we make is from donations," explained Taylor.

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