A Trenton animal shelter says it must frequently deal with abused or neglected animals that are being left at the front door. It is a harmful practice that the organization is trying to prevent.

A timid, malnourished and horribly injured dog was dropped off at the Trenton Animals Rock shelter on Sunday. Good Samaritans had seen the dog roaming the streets and were able to put him in the back of their pickup truck.

“This may be the worst injury I’ve seen in three and a half years here,” says shelter director Danielle Gletow. “It appears as if a collar had embedded in his neck and it’s about an inch deep, 360 degrees around.”

Gletow says that the wound was fresh and bloodied. She had heard through social media about this dog being on the streets, but her staff could not find him.

News 12 New Jersey was told that the wounded dog was seen along Stuyvesant Avenue in Trenton for three days. He was finally rescued. Staffers at the shelter say that when they first saw him, they were amazed that he was even alive.

The dog, nicknamed Stillman, was taken to Blue Pearl Animal Hospital in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. After removing the rope around his neck and giving him a round of antibiotics, Stillman is healing and playful.

“It typically is that [the collars] are too tight, the animal begins to grow around that and it imbeds itself,” Gletow says.

Gletow says this kind of abuse and neglect has become all too frequent in the Trenton area. She says that on Monday morning someone left a severely injured cat at the shelter’s front door. The cat later died.

She says that she would like people to stop leaving animals when no one is at the shelter. The shelter has posted some tips on its website for what to do with a sick or wounded animal.

“One – you don’t know who is going to come by and take that animal. It’s cold right now, so you don’t want to leave them outside,” Gletow says.

She says that anyone who does drop off an animal when the shelter is open, won’t get in trouble and won’t have to pay for the animal. She says she just wants people in the area to start treating pets with more care.

Stillman is being sent to a foster family after spending a few days at the hospital. The cost of treating him is expected to be between $5,000 and $10,000. Anyone who would like to donate can do so at the Trenton Animals Rock website.