Underweight, Injured Puppy Slowly Recovering After Being Lost For A Month

BOSTON (CBS) -- A young puppy who recently arrived at the Animal Rescue League of Boston has a long road ahead of recovery ahead.

Eight-month-old Charlotte was lost and on her own for about a month. "It's miraculous she even survived," said the ARL.

She was was severely underweight when she arrived, weighing only about half of what she should. She will also need surgery to fix a fracture in her leg.

"Charlotte was originally transported from a rescue group in Alabama, but her former owner picked her up at a parking lot in Connecticut just over the Massachusetts border – she was lost just 4 hours after being adopted," said the ARL.

The organization expects it will take two months for Charlotte to recover from the surgery. In the meantime, she remains very skittish around people.

Edward Schettino of the ARL said, "We don't know what happened when she was lost for 30 days but she's afraid of a lot of people. We're working intensively with her with our behavior management team in order to get her a little more accustomed to people, realizing that people aren't so bad and she's definitely coming around."

Taking care of Charlotte has already cost the ARL thousands, they said. The organization is hoping donations from the public will help cover some of her medical fees.