The dog, who is believed to be about five years old, was initially unable to walk, and smelled like fecal matter and urine.
Animal welfare workers are trying to raise money to help an abused shih tzu mix that was thrown from a car on Saturday in Paterson.
Bystanders said the car slowed down near 141 Granite Ave., but didn't come to a stop when the passenger side door opened and the dog was thrown out, said Frannie Laurita, volunteer manager at the Ramapo-Bergen animal shelter.
The bystanders called Paterson Animal Control, which called the Oakland shelter for "immediate urgent rescue help."
The dog, which is believed to be about five years old, was initially unable to walk, and smelled like fecal matter and urine.
"He smelled like 100 elephants," said Laurita, who went and picked him up.
He was found with matted fur that covered his eyes and prevented him from seeing and he weighed six pounds. A healthy weight would be 20 pounds, Laurita said.
Laurita said the matted fur might've helped him break his fall from the car. The fur was so matted that it looked like a bird's nest, she said.
The dog, which the animal shelter has named Grant, was rushed to the Oradell Animal Hospital in Paramus. Grant is on IV fluids and will be there for a while, Laurita said, while the staff tries to put weight back on him and again introduces him to food.
It could take a month to get Grant again eating normally, Laurita said. The GoFundMe account created by the shelter will fund Grant's mounting bills for his care.
Paterson Animal Control is investigating the incident to try to figure out who threw the dog from the car. John DeCando, Paterson chief animal control officer and Passaic SPCA law enforcement officer, said the person who did abused Grant would face six tickets, which could each be $3,000 or six months in jail or both.
The tickets would include inflicting unnecessary pain to a living creature, abandoning an animal on a roadside and not providing necessary care.
"A person with no heart would do something like this," DeCando said. "If you abuse an animal, you should go directly to jail."
Sara Jerde may be reached at sjerde@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SaraJerde.