In the early hours of November 8, 2024, a security guard pulled into a gas station in Detroit — and spotted something that stopped him in his tracks.
Near the dumpster, shivering in the cold, was a tiny white-and-brown pit bull puppy.
He was eating trash to survive.
“[He] noticed a tiny puppy eating trash next to the dumpster,” Liz Haack told The Dodo.
The puppy was painfully thin — skin stretched over fragile bones — and completely alone. No mother. No other dogs. Just freezing pavement and scraps of garbage.
The security guard couldn’t walk away.
“It had been pretty cold out, and no other dogs were around, so the guy scooped the puppy up and put him in a box,” Haack said. Knowing that one of his coworkers volunteered with a rescue, he brought the puppy to work and immediately reached out for help.
That call led to Rebel Dogs Detroit.
The rescue shared the puppy’s photo online, urgently searching for a foster home. Haack — a veterinary technician and co-founder of Colony Cat Club Detroit who normally fosters kittens — happened to see the post.
And she couldn’t scroll past.
“I saw the post, and something made me immediately decide to step up to take him,” she said.
Once her application was approved, Haack rushed to pick him up. When she arrived, her heart sank.
He was even smaller than she expected.
At just 5 weeks old, the puppy — later named Joey — weighed only 3 pounds.
“I almost cried when I first held him because all I wanted to do was love and protect this tiny little suffering creature,” Haack said.
Back at home, the full extent of Joey’s condition became clear.
“When we brought Joey home, it was pretty clear that he wouldn’t have made it much longer if he had stayed outside on his own,” Haack explained. “He was skin and bones, had a bloated belly from hunger and worms, and was dehydrated and cold.”
Joey was in a fragile state — but he had landed in exactly the right hands.
Haack began round-the-clock care: deworming treatments, fluids, carefully portioned meals, and constant warmth. Every feeding was measured. Every nap supervised. Every tiny gain celebrated.
“He was weak at first, but perked up after food and fluids,” Haack shared. “He was so young, all he wanted to do was be snuggled and sleep while we held him — which we were happy to do!”
And slowly, something beautiful began to happen.
The hollow-eyed puppy who once scavenged by a dumpster started filling out. His ribs disappeared beneath healthy weight. His tail began to wag. His personality blossomed.
He even struck up an adorable friendship with Haack’s 2-year-old golden retriever, who quickly became his best buddy and role model.
Weeks turned into months.
The starving puppy transformed into a happy, playful, snuggly dog.
Eventually, Joey was healthy enough to be adopted. The rescue began discussing potential adopters.
That’s when Haack realized something important.
She couldn’t let him go.
“I spent the whole day crying and then told the rescue I wanted to officially adopt him, since I couldn’t imagine life without him,” she said. “We were all better off with him in our lives!”
And just like that, Joey was home — for good.
They recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of the day he was found. Today, it’s almost impossible to imagine that this joyful, thriving dog is the same skeletal puppy once digging through trash to survive.
No one knows exactly what Joey endured before that cold November morning.
But thanks to one compassionate stranger who refused to look away — and a foster mom who became his forever mom — Joey’s story didn’t end at the dumpster.
It started there.
“Our goal has always been to give him a life that helps him forget whatever happened to him when he was a baby,” Haack said. “And he doesn’t seem to have any trauma from his past. It’s been better than we imagined.”
From trash to treasured — Joey’s transformation is proof that sometimes, all it takes is one person to change everything.
To help dogs like Joey get the care they need, you can donate to Rebel Dogs Detroit here.
