An Erie animal shelter is asking for answers after a six-month-old puppy was found in a crate under a bridge as sub-zero windchills batter the area. 

The ANNA Shelter said Erie police called the rescue's director around 7 p.m. on Monday about a dog that was believed to be frozen and maybe already dead. 

When the red Siberian husky arrived, she was alive but unresponsive. The shelter said her heart rate was an "alarming" 46 beats per minute. Rescuers said she had frostbite on all four paws, was covered in feces and reeked of urine. 

"She is literally a rack of bones weighing just 15.2 pounds," ANNA Shelter wrote in a Facebook post. 

After about 3 1/2 hours of warm blankets, medicine and petting, rescuers said the dog was stretching her legs and trying to lift her head up. 

"We are feeling hopeful for this girl but she is far from out of the woods," the ANNA Shelter wrote. 

It's reminiscent of another case the shelter took in 2025. A man called saying there was a dead dog in his driveway, but when he brought her in, it turned out she was alive — barely. Though the vet said she was just minutes from death, the 10-month-old named Phoenix made a miraculous recovery and was adopted. 

Erie police are working with the shelter's cruelty team to get justice for the husky pup, named Aimee after the Erie police dispatcher who took the original call. Anyone who has information that could help with the investigation is asked to call the cruelty team at 814-572-5913 or police at 814-870-1125.