Surveillance video captured a man tie up and abandon a dog in the freezing cold near a New York City animal hospital Sunday.

What the man did to the dog, a 12-year-old chow chow, is making people angry. But also inciting outrage is what he does as he walks away from the animal.

He's seen on video making the sign of the cross:

Image source: Surveillance video via WCBS-TV

Image source: Surveillance video via WCBS-TV

Among some of the comments accompanying the WCBS story spoke to this very issue:

"to the man who left this precious dog and walked away from someone who probably loved you more than you can ever imagine...you are going to need more than the sign of the cross cause you are going straight to hell when you die and you so deserve it..." (audrey kennedy)

"And people call atheists like me names…..I take in strays, offer donations, transport and feed ferals,,,what do you do? Ha, not much it looks like." (KA)

"Be aware you vile excuse for continued oxygen consumption on the planet, that karma will catch you. Maltreatment and abandonment of this dog will not be erased by you making a sign of the cross while walking away. Don't try the jive that you were doing the symbol for the dog. You're trying to ease your conscience. What a joke you are. Save your crocodile tears. A plague on you." (Thor's Hammer)

"Yet another religious a hole - self centered hypocrites doing all the evils in the world." (DanTe)

The Riverside Animal Hospital on West 108th Street took the dog in for treatment, and he's okay for now.

“He was in terrible condition,” veterinarian Georgia Weber told WCBS. “He had such severe matting on his coat. It looked like no one had groomed him in forever.” After the dog's fur was trimmed off, vets discovered he had lesions.

“How could you just tie him up in the freezing cold weather, no less?” Phillip Raclyn, another vet at Riverside, told WCBS. “And how could you let him get to be in this state?”

Image source: WCBS-TV

Image source: WCBS-TV

The dog has no microchip or tags, so the animal hospital can't find the owner. And if he isn't claimed or adopted within seven days, or if money isn't donated for his care, the dog will likely be euthanized, as Riverside isn't equipped for long-term care.

Animal hospital workers haven't had the heart to name the dog, not wanting to become too attached.

Image source: WCBS-TV

“Then he was sitting crying in a cage here on Sunday just with me, not knowing where he was, not knowing what had happened to him,” Weber said. “What he does know is he’s been abandoned.”

This story has been updated.