A chihuahua from Phoenix, Arizona is alive thanks to the alertness of sanitation worker Steve Shelafoe. Â The worker notice that the dog somehow made it into the dumpster, and almost went into the compactor while he was collecting it.
 “At first I thought he was just a stuffed animal, because he wasn’t really moving, and then as I stopped it then he jumped up on top and started walking around,” said Steve Shelafoe.
The dog had no identification on him, so Shelafoe has taken to calling him Hopper, after the part of the truck he rescued the little dog from.
“If he didn’t get on top of the trash like he did, he would have been sucked underneath, and that wouldn’t have been no good for him,” said Shelafoe.
Shelafoe says there’s just no way the dog got into the dumpster by himself. Â There’s simply no way a dog his size could make it up the wall of the dumpster, and into it without someone putting him there.
“It’s ridiculous, you know, find venues out there you can go to if you don’t want the dog anymore. Â It’s pretty sad that someone would do that,” said Shelafoe.
Despite the fact someone may have put the poor little guy in a dumpster, Shelafoe is happy he got the little guy out in time.
“To actually see him alive and well, you know be able to go out and live his life in a good home, that’s a good thing,” said Shelafoe.
