DeSoto County dog left to die almost ready for adoption in Cape Coral

Writer: Jack Lowenstein
Published: Updated:
Bouncer, the dog. Credit: WINK News.

We learned some good news for a DeSoto County dog. You might remember a puppy that was rescued on the side of the road by a deputy. He saved the puppy after someone stuffed it inside a plastic bag and left it for dead.

After a road to recovery, Bouncer, the dog, is nearly ready for a new home Wednesday.

The roughly six-month-old puppy is playful and curious. But the grass hasn’t always been green for Bouncer.

“He was found in a trash bag, thrown out,” Debra Merkin said.

Wrapped in a plastic bag and left to die, a DeSoto County deputy found Bouncer on the side of the road last December.

“At the time, he was only like eight to 10-weeks-old. He was a puppy,” Merkin said. “Officer Matt Plymale with DeSoto County Sheriff’s department was making his routine patrol, and he was flagged down by this gentleman, and he was able to cut the dog out of the bag.”

Since then, Bouncer has lived at Desoto County Animal Control until Wednesday when he headed off to Cape Coral Animal Shelter, where, pretty soon, Bouncer will be up for adoption.

His sendoff did not go without pictures and a couple tears.

“I’m gonna miss him bad,” Merkin said.

But it serves as an uplifting ending to a heartbreaking start.

“We’re just happy we got to be a part of his life, and we’re now able to send him off to a better one,” Merkin said. “A second chance. Everybody deserves one.”

Cape Coral Animal Shelter said bouncer will need some training before he’s officially up for adoption. Deputies are still searching for the person who left Bouncer in a plastic bag on the side of the road.

Anyone with information can call DCSO to leave a tip.

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