JEFFERSON COUNTY, MO (KMOV/CNN) - Police were horrified when they discovered a dog that had its mouth and legs duct-taped in the middle of a quarry.
Despite all Jimmy the Dachshund has gone through, Doctor Laura Ivan, a veterinarian, thinks he’ll be fine.
"His mouth was duct taped shut. His feet were duct taped together and I think parts of his body was duct taped," said Dr. Ivan.
Thirty years of practicing veterinary medicine did not prepare her for Jimmy's arrival Saturday.
"He couldn't move nor could he bark or open his mouth. So, it was as if he, and then he was dumped in a quarry,” said Dr. Ivan.
Investigators believe Paul Garcia bound the dog's paws and those with electrical and duct tape and threw him into a ditch where he sat for 12 hours cold and malnourished.
"They had to go and freeze this tape that was on him, little by little, and pull it apart bit by bit by bit in order to find that that fingerprint and maintain it," said Grant Bissell, with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
And with that evidence, it helped Jefferson County's prosecutor charged Garcia with animal abuse and armed criminal action.
"It is probably a pet to somebody and that something really bad happened either between two people or just some random really horrible person," said Dr. Ivan.
Jimmy will remain with Dr. Ivan for treatment.
If no one claims Jimmy, he'll go up for adoption.
But the sheriff's office does not expect that to happen any time soon.
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