State police are investigating a possible case of animal cruelty involving a dog found in Lansford more than a week ago with what appeared to be burns, the director at the Carbon County Animal Shelter said Tuesday.

Renzo, a 6-year-old rottweiler, is doing well in the care of the shelter and Dr. Dawn Mriss at the Lehighton Animal Hospital, Tom Connors, shelter director, said.

“He’s doing better than he was last week,” Connors said. “He seems happy and he’s enjoying the food, the care and love he’s getting here.”

Dr. Mriss took samples of Renzo’s skin, hoping to determine what happened to him, but couldn’t determine if wounds on his head and body were burns, he said.

“They thought it was a burn, because there’s a pattern of something spilled on the dog, but they can’t 100% say that it was burned,” Connors said.

“But it was a very bad bacterial infection that got out of control, and we probably caught it just in time to be able to reverse it, hopefully,” he said.

The infection was so severe that the doctor found maggots when they debrided Renzo’s skin, Connors said.

“These things were already starting to eat away at the dog,” he said. “Whether he was burned or not, he definitely wasn’t cared for.”

Numerous people concerned about Renzo contacted the state police’s animal cruelty officer, Cpl. Michael Spada, Connors said.

“He is actually doing an investigation, because there’s a lot of people that contacted him,” he said. “It seems they have concerns for another dog that may be living in the same house.

“We did send him what information we had, and he is doing an investigation,” Connors said.

Renzo’s photo showed up on social media July 20, when he was found with the wounds by people on their way to church that Sunday. At that time, people posted about a second dog from the same Lansford home that may also be injured.

Renzo did have a microchip that came back to Anthony Siade of Hempstead, New York. The shelter was unable to reach the owner via phone or email.

Connors said that the dog may have been given away or was with someone else, who did not reregister the microchip.

People have been reaching out to the shelter to check on Renzo, visit him and donate money toward his medical care, Connors said.

“A lot of people care and they understand these poor animal can’t defend themselves, and they count on us to help them,” he said.

A former Lansford resident who now lives in Macungie immediately reached out to the shelter about Renzo, after seeing his picture on social media while on vacation out of state, Connors said.

She came a few days later with $1,000 donation to the Lehighton Animal Hospital for Renzo’s care, he said.

“This is just a wonderful, wonderful thing that people care so much,” Connors said.

The shelter does not ask for donations, he said, but contributions to the medical fund such as this allows them to care for the dogs without draining the shelter’s budget.

“The community is amazing, and we’ve been very blessed that we’ve had all this support over the years,” Connors said. “We don’t ask for things, and yet, when there’s a need, people know it and they make sure we have it.”

Many people were also taken with Renzo’s sweet, happy personality despite his injuries.

“A lot of people have come to just meet him and see him, and they’re almost as amazed as we are of how happy he seems to be just being here,” Connors said.

Renzo will be up for adoption in the next few weeks, as he is continuing to be treated for now.

The family that found him is considering adopting him, Connors said, but they will have to see if it’s a good fit for him and the family first.

The shelter is located at the county complex off Route 93 on the Broad Mountain, and the address is 63 Broad St. Nesquehoning. Staff is available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and weekends from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Visitors are welcome after 10 a.m. but should call 570-325-4828 first to ensure that someone in on site, as staff may be called away on emergencies or vet visits.