Fourteen dogs were left behind in a Phoenix vacation home rented through VRBO after their owner checked out and walked away. When Arizona Humane Society investigators arrived on September 5, they found the dogs starving, sick, and with fur caked in waste. Inside the home's freezer were the bodies of dead puppies.

Two of the dogs were so far gone that their organs were failing, and they had to be put down to end their suffering. The other 12, ranging from 3-month-old puppies to 5-year-old adults, survived. One of them is Freddy. Photos from the Arizona Humane Society show how he looked when rescuers found him, and how much he has changed since getting care.

These dogs could not feed themselves, find water, or call for help. Someone chose to leave them there. Arizona law treats abandoning an animal as a form of animal cruelty, and cases that cause serious suffering can be charged as felonies.

There has been no public word yet on whether the owner will face charges. If this case fades away, it sends a message to anyone else thinking about leaving pets behind that nothing will happen to them.

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office has the power to make sure that doesn't happen. Prosecutors can review the evidence gathered by Arizona Humane Society investigators and the Phoenix Police Department, and file animal cruelty charges against the person responsible.

Freddy and 11 other dogs are alive today because rescuers moved fast. Now prosecutors need to act just as quickly.

Sign the petition to call on the Maricopa County Attorney to charge the owner who abandoned these dogs, before this case is quietly forgotten.