A Chihuahua has been saved after spending 17 hours wrapped up in a trash bag and trapped inside a container.

She was left outside an animal rescue in Elmsford - and the man who left her was caught on surveillance video driving away.

Fortunately, an animal rescue group found the dog before she suffocated. 

When employees found her, she had chewed and scratched her way out of the bag so she could breathe - even breaking her nails in the process.

"Unfortunately, in this case, this goes way beyond abandonment. The person responsible for this—it seems like he wanted this dog to die. This wasn't ignorance. This was just cruelty," says Ernest Lungaro, of the SPCA Westchester Humane Law Enforcement.

The SPCA of Westchester is looking for whoever dumped the dog.

It has since named the dog Rue, and she'll be up for adoption soon.

Anyone with information is asked to call their hotline at 914-941-7797.