UPDATE: Warren animal shelter offering reward for information that leads to arrest of owner of 'severely neglected' dog

A Warren animal shelter is now offering a reward for information on the owner of a "severely neglected" dog that was rescued in Niles early Sunday morning. 

A $1,100 reward is now being offered by Health Heart and Paws for information leading to the arrest of the owner of a dog that was left on the side of Belmont and McKees Road. 

Niles Police called Healthy Heart and Paws President and CEO Jason Cooke around 4 a.m. Sunday about a dog that had been left on the side of the road. 

Once on scene, Cooke said he observed one of the worst cases of neglect he's ever seen.

"I've been doing this a very long time, I always thought I've seen the worst of the worst, nothing more can shock me, and then when I got out of my car and picked that poor dog up, you can feel every bone in it's body," said Cooke. 

Cooke said that the dog was covered in urine burns, fleas and was severely malnourished. 

The dog, who the shelter named 'Cameron,' was brought back to the shelter and given small amounts of food and water. Cameron then had to be taken to a hospital in Akron, where he's expected to stay for at least 24 hours. 

Cooke said that the vet's in Akron confirm what he already suspected, that this dog was not lost or missing, that they were confined and neglected for a long time. 

"His condition is extremely poor," said Cooke. 

Now, Cooke is calling on the public to help identify the owner in case other animals are suffering. 

"Somebody out there knows who this dog belongs to, if somebody knows something, they've got to speak up," said Cooke. 

Cooke says it's almost daily that his shelter is rescuing cats and dogs in Trumbull County, taking them out of situations of neglect. 

"We can't continue to allow this to go unchecked, this is just happening way too much in Trumbull County, it seems like this is a daily, weekly occurrence," said Cooke. 

This is a problem that has been plaguing shelters around Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana County, as they struggle to take on more animals due to overcrowding. 

Cooke believes that there are several different factors influencing the high neglect rate. 

"The economy, the housing crisis, there's a lot of people struggling with substance abuse," said Cooke. 

Cooke says the overcrowding at shelters is also an issue and  that he recently saved a dog from a neglectful situation in Masury. In that case, the dog's owner had been calling shelters trying to surrender their animal. 

"They told me they've been calling everywhere to surrender this dog, and I know he has, and he's called our shelter before, but we don't have any room," said Cooke. 

Healthy Heart and Paws in Warren currently has 80 dogs in their shelter, and over 40 dogs in foster homes. But Cooke says that he doesn't know of any shelter in the area that could take on more animals, and that he doesn't have a perfect solution for the issue. 

"If you're considering adopting or fostering an animal, do it now. Or if you can, volunteer, we're all volunteers here, the more people we have, the more enrichment we can provide for our animals," said Cooke.