According to a post from Mac’s Mission, a nonprofit dog rescue based in Jackson, Missouri, a broker was visiting a breeder to buy puppies last month when she saw a “sickly, lethargic” French bulldog puppy, struggling for life.

The dog had an umbilical hernia and a heart murmur. It is believed the breeder intentionally threw this puppy away due to these health problems, discarding their “faulty product” and leaving the puppy to die.

Realizing the puppy was near-death, the broker picked him up from the trash and got him help at a nearby rescue, and later reported the breeder. He was then transferred to Mac’s Mission, who brought him to their vet.

They reported that the dog, now named Oscar, had a severe upper respiratory infection, low blood sugar and a high white blood cell count, and was extremely malnourished. They put him on antibiotics, and hoped he would pull through.

“How does one drop a failing sick puppy into a trashcan? How? Just how? I have no words after today on humanity’s audacity and cruelty,” the rescue wrote.

Now in good hands, Oscar’s personality began to shine through. But his recovery hit a roadblock when his health worsened: rescue founder Rochelle Steffen told Newsweek that his heart murmur went from grade 2 to grade 4/5 out of 6.

But they haven’t lost faith, and have been counting on their supporters to help them with the rising medical bills. “Our sole focus of the rescue is taking on extreme medical cases and special needs,” Steffen said.