HUNTINGTON COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) — The Huntington County Humane Society was tipped off and responded to two separate incidents of apparent animal abandonment on Monday.

The organization posted about both incidents on its Facebook page.

The first came after they got a call from someone driving on US 24 Monday morning.

The caller said they witnessed a car pulled over on the opposite side of the highway and that they saw a black cat released from the car.

Later in the day, they got a call from the American Legion in Roanoke where a small chihuahua mix was found in a pile of trash.

The board president for the Huntington County Humane Society, Katy Hudson, told WANE 15 that both incidents are troubling.

“It’s unfortunately not uncommon. We are finding a lot of shelters and a lot of rescues at maximum capacity,” Hudson said. “They don’t have the ability to take in these animals, and so the unfortunate result of that is if folks feel that they don’t have any other options, we are finding that abandoning those animals is typically a resort that they are opting into.”

In the case of the cat, Hudson said they sent animal care and control officers out twice, and on the second trip they found a cat that matched the description about a half a mile away from where the call came. The cat was deceased on the side of the highway.

Hudson said it isn’t clear if it’s the cat they were looking for and they’re holding out hope they’ll still find it.

For the dog, which they’re calling ‘Margie,’ there’s a much more positive ending.

“She’s getting life-saving care right now that she deserved, and she’s going to be able to make a successful rehabilitation,” Hudson explained.

Margie was determined by vets to have been on her own for several weeks and had resorted to eating trash and anything else she could find to survive.

Her body was compacted with plastic and leaves.

She got a minor surgery Tuesday to get that debris out of her. She’d also been dealing with a dislocated hip and a broken leg.

In the near future, Margie will be able to go to a loving home. Hudson said it’s all because people cared enough to call.

“I think it’s easy to get caught in the negative of this situation, but if there’s a silver lining to this perspective and both these situations, it’s that folks cared enough to call and that there are people out in the community that are willing to help,” she said. “The fact that we were notified so early on in these situations allowed us to take action.”

While there is that silver lining, Hudson still urges people to exert all options before abandoning an animal.

Most cities and counties have ordinances that ban the abandonment of animals. She said there are tons of ways to re-home an animal so people don’t have to resort to that.

She suggests calling local humane societies and rescues, calling friends, family, and neighbors, or even searching for Facebook groups that can help.

A simple post on social media could go a long way, Hudson explained. Even if it’s just a temporary situation until a local shelter has space for the animal.

“That is the premise of animal-ownership and animal-responsibility, that it is your job to care for those animals through the end of your care for those animals,” Hudson said.

The Huntington County Humane Society is asking for donations to help with the medical costs for Margie and all the other animals in their care.

You can find their donation page here.