Sanitation workers empty a trash can and find a starving dog alive, stuffed at the bottom

A Milwaukee garbage route turned into a rescue mission when sanitation workers found a starving puppy beneath a pile of trash in a bin.

The dog, later named PJ, is now living with one of the workers who helped save him, according to The Washington Post.

What happened?

A trash cart slipped while 21-year-old Milwaukee sanitation worker Nazir Nalls was loading it into his truck on April 15.

When the garbage spilled out, he and his partner spotted a live dog buried in the debris.

"Who puts a live dog in a garbage can?" Nalls remembered thinking.

The puppy was clearly in severe condition.

"You could see his entire skeleton," Nalls told The Washington Post. "It was like he hadn't eaten in days or maybe weeks."

After the crew gave the dog water, they called supervisor Alex Halverson to the scene. 

He said the puppy was "extremely malnourished and close to death."

Using the lunch he had brought with him, Halverson fed the puppy both of his peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

"I don't think he chewed," Halverson said, per the publication. "He just inhaled them."

The dog was named PJ by Halverson, then received shelter care for malnutrition, worms, and digestive issues before being placed with a foster family. On May 6, Halverson brought PJ home.

Why does it matter?

Shelter staff estimated that PJ was about 7 months old when he arrived.

He weighed only 10 pounds at the time and has since reached 24 pounds in his new home.

Halverson said a string of unlikely moments made the rescue possible.

It was garbage day, and the cart happened to slip off the truck. Without that, he said, PJ might not have lived.

Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission staff said animals do sometimes turn up in residential garbage cans, even though it is uncommon.

What are people saying?

Even after what he had been through, PJ was still friendly.

"He was wagging his tail," Halverson said.

In the end, the puppy found a loving new home, and Halverson got a new best friend. 

"When the finders are interested in getting the dog, it's always the best," said Kate Hartlund, the shelter's community engagement and volunteer coordinator. "It was kismet. It just worked."

Helping the puppy was an easy decision for Nalls.

"I couldn't just let a living thing go without any kind of care, nurture, and nourishment," he said. 

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