As requests to adopt her pour into a local shelter, the dog's former owner denies that the canine was ever neglected.

"This is not neglect," said a woman named Carla, who didn't want to give her last name. "My dog evidently got sick."

Carla said the dog - which the family knew as Shade - was fed early every morning and every evening, usually by her 14-year-old son. She said her son had noticed on the Friday before Super Bowl that the dog was limping. They suspected a paw problem.

Carla said she couldn't afford to take the dog to a veterinarian, so she contacted a local rescue group called the Animal Care Network. Carla said her husband agreed to sign the dog over to the network the next day so she could get help.

"She was never left unfed or without water," she said.

Animal workers say the dog's physical state showed it was severely emaciated.

Animal Care Network volunteer Kathryn Tucker said the pooch immediately gobbled down the small handful of food she gave it after she took it from the house and to her truck.

"She completely devoured it within a second. ... If she would have been ill for any other medical reason, I don't think she would have been as motivated as she was to eat," Tucker said.

Tucker took the dog to the Michigan Animal Rescue League, where she weighed in at 9 pounds instead of an ideal 30. After eating small amounts of food every hour for the first few days and now every couple of hours, she's up to about 14 pounds.

"She's doing a lot better. She's cruising around" the shelter, said Kayla Allen, director of the Michigan Animal Rescue League. Staff named her Rosie.

Allen said more than 400 phone calls, 90 e-mails and five letters have come into the Michigan Animal Rescue League from people who want to adopt the dog.

Linda Cedillo, a former Pontiac animal control officer who works for the city as a licensing and zoning inspector, said she plans to bring Rosie's case to the city attorney's office this week with the hope of spurring animal cruelty charges. She's waiting for a written report from a veterinarian.

Blood work showed the dog was severely anemic and had low protein levels, low white blood cell counts and some high liver enzymes, all signs of starvation.

"Fortunately, this is not something that we see a lot of," said Jonathan Ross, who practices at Ross Hospital for Animals in Bloomfield Hills. "Very rarely do you see a dog in this terrible shape from starvation. People just aren't that cruel."

State laws and Pontiac ordinances require pet owners to provide adequate food, water and shelter. However, enforcement is often spotty.

Pontiac Police Sgt. William Ware said animal control officer Donnie Benion has not received any complaints about the case and therefore is not following up.

"We have to have a written complaint to do a follow-up," Ware said.

He said a complaint logged by the animal control officer himself, or a written complaint submitted to the department, is the impetus for an investigation.

Tucker said Rosie, or Shade, was in a small basement utility room without food or water. She was too weak to lift her head or stand.

Carla said the dog was kept in the laundry room when she was little. Since last June or July, she has been living in a cage in the garage. She was also sometimes tied on the side of the house, and there was also a doghouse outside.

Carla said the family has had the dog since she was 9 weeks old. She said it's an 18-month-old schnauzer and chow mix, not a wheaten terrier mix as the staff at the Michigan Animal Rescue League believed.

Carla said the family would like to get the dog back.

"My son loves his dog," she said. "I think they blew this totally out of proportion, and we would never neglect any animal."

People have pleaded to be picked as Rosie's new owners in letters, e-mails and calls to the Michigan Animal Rescue League. One woman e-mailed from Florida, saying her grandmother in Warren would treat the dog like royalty.

Others are irate at her owners.

Anyone interested in adopting Rosie can pick up an application from the Michigan Animal Rescue League. Applications can be mailed out if people send self-addressed, stamped envelopes to the Michigan Animal Rescue League, 790 Featherstone, Pontiac, MI 48342.

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