The group of workers were collecting trash in Dutchess County, New York, when they heard barking.

A New York State Department of Transportation employee, Patrick Harden, was also with them as he was patrolling the area.

They decided to find out where the voice is coming and followed the barking. They found a dog tied to a tree, deep in the woods away from the highway. The workers were baffled to see the dog tied to the tree.

“While picking up garbage in the grass We heard a dog barking but we knew there were no homes in that area,” Harden wrote on Facebook.

“I noticed some grass matted down and we heard more barking when we found a dog abandoned and tied to a tree,”

“He must’ve been left there over the weekend in the 100 degree heat because all the grass around him was dead, and he was just excited to see a person.”

“You’ve got to be quite a piece of work to dump an animal off the interstate and tying him to a tree knowing he will die instead of taking him to the SPCA or at least letting him run off on his own,” Harden wrote.

“Luckily he still had high spirits even after being abandoned and I’m sure he’ll be adopted quickly to a loving family.”

Lynne Meloccaro, executive director of the Dutchess County SPCA said that Pesci was dehydrated when he arrived.

“He was very happy and excited to see anyone,” Meloccaro told The Dodo. “He had been there for quite a while in 100-plus [degree] weather. He’s clearly got a strong will to live.”

“He is a very sweet soul,”

“He’s happiest when he’s with people, he loves to play and get cuddles.”

“That he was so far off the road suggests that whoever put him there did not intend for him to be found easily,

“He will be ready for adoption very soon, and given the public interest, in this case, I think he will find his forever home in a shorter amount of time than he spent tied to that tree.”