Puppy thrown from car in South Salt Lake hits donation goal from donors around the country

SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah — Good news about a dog thrown from a car in South Salt Lake that is getting attention from around the country.

Malin, the “warrior,” is out of surgery to repair her broken back legs and now has enough donations to recover.

As soon as South Salt Lake Animal Services opened its doors and phone lines on Monday morning, people began calling and stopping by to donate to Malin’s recovery.

Video of the estimated 2-month-old Pomeranian-Chihuahua mix shows her back legs shaved and the little black fur baby shivering and shaking after surgery.

Malin couldn’t have had that surgery without the hundreds who were worried about her upon hearing what happened to the dog.

“Everybody wants to see the best outcome for her,” said Kevin Hansen, animal control officer for South Salt Lake. “They’re concerned, and hopefully, we can track down the person who threw the dog out of the car. This type of thing shouldn’t happen.”

In one of the worst animal abuse cases, Hansen has seen in South Salt Lake. He described how Malin was thrown onto 3300 South near 300 West around 2 or 2:30 p.m. Friday.

A woman experiencing homelessness watched the tiny pup get chucked onto the street but didn’t get a very detailed description of the car.

She picked up the dog and walked it to a nearby vet clinic.

“They thought with the extensive injuries, that they thought they were going just to have to euthanize the dog,” Hansen said.

They estimated it would take $10,000 to help Malin, especially because on top of the broken legs, she may have a spinal cord injury and eye issues, and they discovered she’s likely been abused in the past.

“The vet said that there was possible old scarring around her ribs. So, as a two-month-old dog, there’s possibly previous abuse as well,” Hansen said. “So she hasn’t seen a good human.”

Thankfully, good humans around the country are rooting for Malin and flooded animal services all day.

The shelter had raised the funds by mid-afternoon, and all her bills will be taken care of.

People kept calling and stopping by instead of donating to the small locally-run shelter.

“With something that happens like this, though, one bad thing and then a million good things come flooding in at the same time,” said McKenna Osmond, a kennel tech and receptionist at South Salt Lake Animal Services.

While police investigate who hurt her, Malin can now start to heal.

Hansen expects Malin to recover but could be a special needs dog permanently, depending on how well she heals.

South Salt Lake Animal Services plans to adopt her out to a forever family, and they’ve already received numerous applications from people interested in bringing her into a loving home.