On Thursday, December 23, Arizona State Troopers received a call from a concerned truck driver who witnessed two dogs being abandoned in the desert off Interstate 8, approximately 27 miles east of Gila Bend. Troopers responded to the area, and with help from the witness they were able to locate and contain a male hound dog.
The second dog ran north into the desert and couldn’t be found.
Trooper Bowers took the hound dog to the Gila Bend Fire Station, where medical personnel carefully removed cactus spines from the pup’s chin. Aside from his run-in with the cactus, the dog appeared to be in good physical condition, and he was later turned over to a rescue for further evaluation and care.