{"id":363184,"date":"2025-11-07T22:49:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T22:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/363184\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T22:49:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T22:49:13","slug":"you-melted-my-heart-phoenix-man-refuses-to-abandon-starving-dog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/363184\/","title":{"rendered":"‘You melted my heart’: Phoenix man refuses to abandon starving dog"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PHOENIX<\/strong> – A starving Cane Corso was found abandoned on the side of a north Phoenix road on Halloween night, starting a story of survival and compassion.<\/p>\n

Marble, a 5-year-old dog, was so emaciated her ribs were visible. Her life was saved by the quick thinking of one man, Ethan Milton.<\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

Milton spotted a small head near a road sign on the I-17 access road. He initially thought it was a neighbor’s dog.<\/p>\n

“On closer inspection, I saw a really emaciated dog with no collar and I knew that this was not a neighbor’s dog,” Milton said. “I found some stray that was out in the desert for quite some time.”<\/p>\n

Milton knew he couldn’t leave her. He sat with the dog, calling shelters and veterinarians, but couldn’t find anyone after hours on Halloween willing to take her.<\/p>\n

“Once I saw those droopy eyes, I was like, ‘Man, you melted my heart,'” Milton said. “If there was any potential of her going to shelter and getting put down, that would be a really sad end to the story. So I thought just maybe if I held on to you, I could figure something out.”<\/p>\n

He took her home and posted her story to Instagram. The post quickly went viral, connecting him to the Big Hearts for Big Breeds Rescue<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dig deeper:<\/p>\n

Rescue board member Caroline Morder, a hospital manager at McClintock Animal Care Center<\/strong><\/a>, drove out immediately. Morder stressed that the first 72 hours were critical, as Marble was at risk of a fatal condition called “re-feeding syndrome” due to severe malnutrition.<\/p>\n

\u2018Everyone else drove past. You stopped’ <\/p>\n

“She has been through the unimaginable, being abandoned by someone that you love, dropped off to the side of the highway and left to fend for yourself,” Morder said.<\/p>\n

Morder said Marble currently has mild anemia and a heart murmur due to the malnutrition but is growing stronger, gaining 2 to 4 pounds a day.<\/p>\n

“We’re just super appreciative for the finder,” Morder said. “It’s easy to be a bystander, but he was active … everyone else drove past. You stopped. And so be a doer.”<\/p>\n

Her story, they say, highlights the crucial role of fosters.<\/p>\n

What’s next:<\/p>\n

Marble is now healing in a foster home, though veterinarians found a mast cell tumor on her abdomen that will require surgery.<\/p>\n

Rescue officials are optimistic about her recovery.<\/p>\n

What you can do:<\/p>\n

You can learn more about Marble’s journey, donate to medical costs and learn more about the rescue by clicking here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pets and Animals<\/a>Heartwarming News<\/a>North Phoenix<\/a>News<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX – A starving Cane Corso was found abandoned on the side of a north Phoenix road on…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":363185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,56761,1588,50,57588,8047,1589,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-363184","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-heartwarming","12":"tag-maricopa-county","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-north-phx","15":"tag-pets-animals","16":"tag-phoenix","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115510861247935813","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}