Animal control found the crate first: locked, sitting off the shoulder of Route 80 in New Jersey, traffic speeding past just feet away. Inside was a Chihuahua who couldn’t lift himself off the floor.
What Officers Found
On April 29, 2020, animal control officers discovered the crate and the dog inside, later named Stanley, said Megan Brinster, executive director of the Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge (RBARI). He was about eight years old, “frozen in fear,” and weighed roughly 21 pounds — more than twice what a healthy Chihuahua should weigh. All four of his legs were bowed in “like a pretzel,” Brinster told CNN, making it nearly impossible for him to walk. A veterinarian who examined him found no underlying health problems besides the weight itself.
How Stanley ended up locked in a crate on the side of a highway has never been confirmed. RBARI has described him as abandoned, and it’s a reasonable read of the situation, but no outlet covering the story has verified who left him there or why.
Stanley spent about a week in animal control custody before RBARI was able to take him in.
A Long Road Back
RBARI placed Stanley with a foster mother named Kathy, who had experience caring for disabled and elderly animals. At first, he wouldn’t eat the low-fat food they offered; switching to fresher wet food got him eating again. He could only drag himself in circles using his front legs, his belly scraping the floor, while his team worked on a plan to get him strong enough — and light enough — to be fitted for a wheelchair.
“Stanley was completely immobile, frozen in fear and due to his distressing physical condition,” RBARI wrote on Facebook. “All four of his legs are so badly deformed that Stanley is unable to walk.”
He was given a temporary mobility device to help him get around while he worked toward a target weight of about 10 pounds, roughly half of where he started.
The Turnaround
Within several months, the weight loss plan worked. RBARI later reported that Stanley had shed more than half his body weight, learning first to crawl, then to swim, before mastering a wheeled mobility cart that let him move independently. “His glowing smile is a reminder that we all didn’t just quit on little Stanley, right when he thought humanity had,” the rescue wrote.
Stanley was adopted into a permanent home, with RBARI crediting both his foster mother and the broader community that followed his recovery. “Our little bright eyed chi is sending love and thanks to all of his supporters who held him up during his incredible rescue journey,” the rescue wrote.
RBARI has since pointed to Stanley’s case as a reminder that animal cruelty doesn’t always look like malnourishment — sometimes it looks like the opposite.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much weight did Stanley lose? He went from roughly 21 pounds down to about 10, close to a normal weight for his size.
Was Stanley’s owner identified or charged? Not according to available reporting. How he ended up abandoned on the highway was never confirmed.
Where is Stanley now? He was adopted into a permanent home after several months of foster care and rehabilitation with RBARI.
Sources: CNN; Fox 5 NY; Fox6 Now; New York Daily News (via MSN); TheAnimalRescueSite; Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge (Facebook/Instagram).
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