Two employees of a dog-walking service took a few dogs to Snyder’s Flats on Wednesday – and left with one more than they had when they arrived.

Kayla Farrell and Kelli Boogemans work for Complete K9.

When they arrived at the popular Waterloo spot for walking dogs, they found one particular dog wandering around, all alone.

With no owner in sight and the Jack Russell cross-breed continually returning to the parking lot, they surmised that it had likely been left there intentionally.

“How somebody could do that to somebody so sweet, it’s truly heartbreaking,” Farrell said Thursday.

The dog had no collar, microchip or other identifying information. Boogemans describes it as being “scared and fragile and confused.”

She says it’s not the first time she’s found an animal that appeared to have been left behind at Snyder’s Flats.

“Think of dropping your grandparents off in an unknown location. That’s basically what people do (with dogs),” she said.

Farrell and Boogemans ended up taking the dog to the Kitchener-Waterloo Humane Society, which is treating it as a stray animal because they have no proof it was abandoned.

Abandoning an animal is considered a crime in Canada.

Humane Society officials say they regularly get calls from people looking to get rid of their no-longer-wanted pets.

They currently have a waiting list for that service. Video cameras outside their Kitchener headquarters occasionally capture footage of people leaving animals at the building and driving away.

With reporting by Tyler Calver