'Skin And Bones': Workers Find Malnourished Dog Inside Abandoned Home

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Workers hired to board up a neighborhood nuisance in the southwest suburbs made a shocking discovery this week: a severely malnourished dog.

Joseph Drish of Cook County Board Up said the dog was laying motionless under broken pieces of dry wall with no food or water in sight.

He called animal control and got some of his dog's treats from his car.

"I've seen animals inside homes before but not to the point where it was this bad," Drish said.

Two neighbors told CBS 2 they had not seen the dog or the man who lived in this home in weeks.

One woman, who asked to stay anonymous, said she called the City of Markham, asking for the house to be boarded up.

"It's a junk yard in the middle of the suburbs," she said.

She said she had no idea the dog was still inside--until the dog was discovered Tuesday. She said the dog was "skin and bones."

"The dog was barely walking but she was alive and that was incredible," she said.

CBS 2 reached out to the Markham Police Department multiple times to ask where the last occupant is or if he will be charged. The department has not responded.

Drish's coworker launched an online fundraiser to pay for Bailey's medical treatment and pet supplies.

Drish says, a few months back, he discovered another dog in an abandoned home and found a new owner for that dog.

As for Bailey? Well, he's decided to keep her for good.

"It sounds like it's going to be a full recovery," he said.

Bailey will visit the veterinarian every Thursday for the next four weeks.

The main goal, right now, is to get Bailey to gain some weight.