MALDEN, Mass. -- A dog was left abandoned in a Malden parking lot tied up next to a bag of food. Now animal control officers are looking for the dog's owner.

It was a heartbreaking scene. A 2-year-old German Shepherd was left abandoned in Malden.

“It’s disturbing anytime you see something like this, especially a good dog,” said Kevin Alkins, Animal Control Officer. “There are outlets available to people and they just choose not to use them.”

“Dartmouth” as he’s being called, was found in the municipal lot on Dartmouth Street in Malden. Animal Control believes his owner left him there sometime after midnight on Friday.

“It is not the right way to do it and it’s a felony. And anybody that does do this, you know, you’d like to see them prosecuted,” said Alkins.

Dartmouth was taken to the Malden Animal Hospital, where he was checked out. He’ll spend ten days there and then it’s off to the Animal Rescue League in Boston, where hopefully someone will adopt him.

“As you can see he’s a great looking dog, a little skittish, but I think given the right owner it would work out,” said Alkins.

Animal Control Officers are hoping to track down the owner so they can prosecute him. If you are interesting in adopting “Dartmouth” please contact the Animal Rescue League.

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