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After numerous sightings, an elusive stray dubbed “Ducky” — because his snout was wrapped in duct tape — was snagged by animal control officers in western Maryland, and two men have been charged with animal cruelty in connection with his mistreatment.

Ducky, as he has been referred to on the “We Love Ducky” Facebook page, had eluded animal control officers and volunteers for a week.

On Sunday morning, though, he was found resting on the porch of a home in Lonaconing, according to the Cumberland Times-News.

The resident called the county 911 center, which dispatched animal control officials to pick up the dog. By Sunday afternoon, after biting one of the officers, Ducky was being treated at the Western Maryland Animal Hospital by Dr. John T. Fox, according to Elizabeth Care, a volunteer at Ark of Hope Rescue.

Ricky Allen Adams, 25, of Cumberland (left), and Frederick Newton Lease, 27, of Mount Savage, have been charged with animal cruelty. Neither of them owned the dog, police said.

Sightings of Ducky had been reported Saturday on U.S. Route 40 near the Garrett County border. Ducky was first spotted near Corriganville more than a week ago.

“Overall, Ducky is in good health and is being treated for parasites,” said a veterinary technician at the animal hospital. Ducky is in quarantine, however, because of the bite, and will remain there for 10 days before a transfer to Ark of Hope.

“We will get him socialized and trusting people, then he will be put up for adoption,” said Care.

No one knows where the dog came from.

Updates on Ducky’s condition will be provided on the Allegany County Animal Shelter Management Foundation Facebook page.

To help with Ducky’s vet expenses, contact Ark of Hope Rescue at 301-478-3300, or by click here.

(Photos: from the We Love Ducky Facebook page)

Abby Toll, the former University of Colorado student accused of taping her boyfriend’s dog to a refrigerator, did not have an “impaired mental condition” at the time that would excuse her behavior, a state mental health doctor says.

Toll, 20, has entered a not guilty plea, claiming she suffered from an impaired mental condition as a result of being an “ongoing victim of domestic violence.”

Her case goes to trial April 12, according to the Boulder Daily Camera. The doctor’s conclusion came in a pre-trial report.

Toll, who now lives in Chicago and is no longer enrolled at the university, is accused of binding her boyfriend’s 2-year-old shiba inu, Rex, in hair bands and packing tape and sticking him upside-down to a refrigerator during a fight.

Her boyfriend, Bryan Beck, also was charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty. In exchange for a guilty plea, he was given a one-year deferred sentence and 50 hours of community service.

The dog has since been adopted by another family.

A cat bound in duct tape was found abandoned in North Philadelphia, and a $1,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the conviction of her abuser.

“Whoever did this is very sick,” said George Bengal, director investigations for the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which is headquartered in North Philadelphia.

A resident of the 2200 block of Edgley Street found the cat yesterday afternoon, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Nicknamed “Sticky” by workers at the PSPCA, the cat was sedated so the tape could be cut away and saved as evidence. She is reported in good health.

“She was purring while we were preparing to take the tape off, while we were getting her sedated,” said Gail Luciani, PSCPA spokeswoman. 

The PSPCA asks that anyone with information about the case call its cruelty hotline at 866-601-7722.

The Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington is hosting a fundraiser today for Trooper, the dog who was rescued from a dumpster after losing a dog fight.

The event will feature tours, games for children, face painting, raffles and more. It starts at 11 a.m. at the Friendship Hospital for Animals, 4105 Brandywine Street, NW.

The dog was found barely alive, duct taped inside a trash bag. Washington Humane Society officials said the dog had apparently been discarded after being used in a dogfight.

When one of her two Pomeranians dashed out of the car seconds after she parked, Elizabeth Rivera followed to see what the dog was after.

When she caught up, Rivera found her dog Gizmo standing over a seemingly lifeless puppy in a drainage ditch, licking its face.

The white puppy, about 12 to 16 weeks old, was curled up in a four-foot deep drainage ditch with his muzzle tightly wrapped with duct tape. “We thought he was dead,” Rivera told the Wayne Independent.

Rivera, owner of Lizzy’s Head to Toe Salon in Newfoundland, Pa., found the puppy while visiting a friend in Hamlin, Pa. Tuesday night. An animal lover, she had brought her two Pomeranians, Angel and Gizmo, with her, tucked safely in her pocketbook when she exited the car around 10 p.m. But Gizmo jumped out and made a mad dash for the nearby ditch.

The dog Gizmo found growled when Rivera and a friend attempted to reach for it, but after letting the dog sniff their hands, the pup allowed the tape to be removed.

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Over the past few months in Tomball, Texas — a small town about 30 miles north of downtown Houston –several dogs have been found abandoned and bound with duct tape.

Workers at area animal shelters suspect the dogs may have been victims of sexual abuse.

Shelter volunteers, upon receiving Vegas — the dog in the video above — considered it a sick, but isolated case of cruelty. Then they heard other duct-taped dogs have showed up near a Tomball area body shop, KTRK-TV reported.

“The first dog showed up, her legs were duct taped together and she was inside the fence,” said Greg Eckelkamp with Tomball Collision Center. “She ran off and we’ve had three others I guess since then.”

Shelter workers treated Vegas for a serious infection caused by the abuse. She has since been spayed and scheduled for adoption.

No law enforcement agencies have gotten involved, the TV station reported.