Though it was a heartbreaking sight, the story does have a happy ending:

On April 15, Nebraska Humane Society shared the shocking story. Animal Control responded to a call from someone who heard an animal inside a dumpster: she initially thought it was a raccoon but was shocked to discover it was a dog.

The dog was in an unbelievable condition: his head was entirely wrapped in duct tape, as was his tail, and his legs were taped together. He also reportedly had “food and other debris caked in his fur.”

“I have never seen anything like it,” responding staff member Kevin Wiederin told KETV. “The entire muzzle was taped, and then there was tape covering up the eyes and it was just sitting there and its front and back paws were taped together also.”

“I was absolutely sickened. It was it was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen,” he added. “I can’t imagine doing that to another living being, let alone a helpless little dog and then just throwing it away like trash.”

It was a miracle he was discovered in time: NHS reports that, a half hour after Animal Control responded to the call, a truck came and emptied the dumpster.

The puppy was taken to the Nebraska Humane Society. He was sedated and the staff got to work removing the tape. They had to shave his fur to remove all the debris.

They wrote on Facebook that while the pup had mild skin irritation, he was “otherwise healthy and seemed to be in good spirits despite his condition” and “perked up and was wagging his tail.”

With the tape removed, the staff was thankfully able to find a microchip. It turned out the dog was named Leo, and he had gone missing a few days prior.

Leo’s owner Erin Dillon-Pasillas says the dog slipped out of the house while she was taking her son to school. She had spent days panicking and contacting shelters about her lost pet.

“Every day got more stressful… it was just crickets,” she told KETV. “I was shaking, calling them. You know, thinking, please be my dog, please be my dog.”

Erin was relieved to have her dog back, but was emotional over what happened to poor Leo. “He’s the sweetest dog! I don’t know why anyone would do this,” she told NHS.

Leo is now recovering from the ordeal and Erin said she would give him a nice bath and a vet check-up.

It’s not clear who did this to Leo. NHS says that there are no cameras near the dumpster where Leo was found. They encourage anyone with information to contact Animal Services at 402-444-7800, and are offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.

What a heartbreaking sight — it’s unimaginable that anyone would duct tape a sweet dog like that, but we’re glad Leo is safe and back home. We hope the culprit is found and faces justice.

Please share this story.

Since we spend so much of our lives taking care of ourselves, the bulk of our focus is directed inwards, and often we can lose sight of just how much we can affect others, the influence we can have.

That’s why it’s so important – if anyone needed reminding at this stage – for us all to do our utmost to be kind, always. Compassion and good will toward others are traits that never go out of fashion. Quite the opposite, in fact, they’ll forever have a crucial role to play in society.

Joyce Rhinehart was out to get ice cream with her grandson one day, back in 2017, when she spotted a family sitting on a bench nearby. They too were enjoying ice cream, and Joyce claimed she felt a sudden compulsion to take their photo…

As Joyce explained in a later Facebook post: “On June 8th I was at Rita’s Italian Ice with my grandson Blake treating him after his tennis lesson. As we were about to leave, there was this sweet family all sitting together on one of the benches enjoying a custard cone. Something urged me to ask them if I could take their picture…”

Joyce ended up doing just that, before the two families went their separate ways. It was a pleasant, heartwarming exchange like any other, and that would have been that.

Sadly, though, fate had other ideas.

Joyce’s post continued: “I took this picture below and then handed my phone to the young daughter and told her to go ahead and text the picture to their cell phone.

Left to take Blake home and explained to him how I have done this before when I see cute family moments of total strangers so they can have the memory.

Usually, I do this on vacation.“

Days later, however, Joyce was sitting on her patio when she got a text message from an unknown number.

A precious photo

“This was the message::::::” Joyce explained.

“Dear madam, you took our picture in front of Rita’s on June 8th. My wife has passed away yesterday and this is the last picture we have together as a family. Please accept my deepest gratitude for your kindness, it means the world to me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Joyce further clarified that she had sent a number of messages back and forth with the man and found out that his wife had been ill for the past year.

“My heart is heavy for this sweet family I don’t even know and the tremendous gift that was left to them cause I listened to my gut that day. I’m in awe!!” Joyce said.

I don’t know about you, but this little gesture of compassion was enough to move me. It really is proof that we should never underestimate the profound difference a random act of kindness can make!