On Friday, January 19th, 2018, the team at Potrero Hills Landfill in Fairfield, California saw a small brown dog running around the dump in the rain. She was bedraggled, skinny, and scared, and was eating garbage to survive. After several unsuccessful attempts to catch her, they finally lured the abandoned dog into the office using lunch meat and cheese. The moment Marcus, a civil engineer at the landfill, saw those big brown eyes he was in love.
Shortly after they got her inside, an animal control officer came to the landfill to pick up the dog. Marcus tracked the dog’s journey from the dump to the shelter, keeping tabs on her status so he could go see her as soon as she was ready for adoption. Once she recovered from her spay surgery, he went to visit her and fell in love all over again. He paid the $20.18 adoption fee and brought her home the following day, Friday, January 26th, 2018.
After careful consideration, Marcus decided to name the dog something trashy—but not too trashy—and FIG was the only logical choice. FIG, or Found in Garbage, is now a beloved family pet and star of the children’s book, FIG the Garbage Dog.
