When doing good goes bad
A concerned citizen saw this dog and, fearing she was being neglected, snapped a photo, posted it online and called animal control.
But the attempt to do good ended badly.
As it turned out, the family that owned her knew she had terminal kidney failure, and was letting live out her final days quietly at home.
All those who saw the picture, and went on to post nasty comments and threaten the dog’s owners, didn’t know that.
To make matters worse, the animal control department in Sparta, N.J., after picking up the dog, euthanized her.
This week, authorities in Sparta, in an attempt to stop the threatening and mean-spirited comments that continue to be directed at the family, issued an official statement to set the record straight.
The press release noted that the dog, Zoey, a Neapolitan mastiff, had been diagnosed with terminal kidney failure in April, and there were no veterinary options to save her life. Her owners, Roni and Elysia Amiel, chose to keep her home to live out her days among those who loved her.
On June 6, a neighbor who saw Zoey lying on the grass near the Amiel home took a photo of her and contacted animal control, believing that the dog had been abused or neglected.
“The investigation concluded that there was NO abuse whatsoever by the Amiel Family and they were only trying to make Zoey as comfortable as possible in her final days at their home,” the police press release said.
Because the dog wasn’t wearing tags, and the neighbor didn’t know who she belonged to, she was assessed at a local animal hospital and euthanized because of her poor health.
“The Sparta Police Department issues this news release not only to set the record straight on behalf of the Amiel Family but to also serve as an absolute warning that this department will not tolerate harassment to any of our residents and these matters will be aggressively investigated and brought to their logical conclusion.”
(Photo: Tumblr)
Posted by jwoestendiek October 26th, 2012 under Muttsblog.
Tags: abuse, animal control, animal welfare, animals, bad, civility, comments, do gooder, do gooding, dog, dogs, dying, euthanized, internet, investigation, kidney failure, nasty, neglect, new jersey, online, owners, pets, police, posting, rescue, sparta, threats, tumblr, zoey
Comments
Comment from Pamela | Something Wagging This Way Comes
Time October 26, 2012 at 3:14 pm
How sad that neighbors don’t know each other well enough to know what’s going on before contacting animal welfare. I hope this sad event gives neighbors a chance to learn about each other before rushing to judgment.
Comment from Davis
Time October 27, 2012 at 9:12 am
Why no quote from the vet who confirms this story of letting the dog die naturally? People suffering terminal diseases are in a lot of pain. No mention of the dog being on pain medication. Also, the articles I read say that the dog was not on its own property. They owned this dog for 8 years and no microchip, no rabies tag, no ID tag?
No, people should not be harassing people who have not been convicted of anything, but in the court of public opinion, I am not convinced that the owners were absolutely without blame. Maybe not of cruelty, but possibly neglect.
Comment from liz stewart
Time October 28, 2012 at 10:03 am
I had a simlilar incident when i was working as an animal control officer…it was during a major weather event in which a dog had been left outside in his pen during the storm…the law required the dog to have water, shelter food, and medical attention…the dog had everything required and the owner was caught out of town (the storm wasn’t supposed to be as bad as it was and he left for a day trip and got stranded)…animal control checked on the dog and made sure it was fine, but the neighbor who called in the complaint took a picture of the dog and posted it to facebook. this caused a firestorm of complaints and threats that we eventually had to remove the dog because people were threatening to steal the animal…there were reports that the dog was in danger of drowning (it wasn’t), that there were power lines down near his pen (there was a garden hose in the picture), that his pen was destroyed by falling trees (a limb was found leaning next to the pen)…they say a picture is worth a thousand words, but pictures can be very deceiving.
Comment from Miss Jan
Time October 26, 2012 at 2:56 pm
While I agree that the photo should never have been posted online by the purported do-gooder and while I also agree that the local animal control agency should have been notified, there are two things that should have happened that apparently did not: the animal control agency should have made every effort to locate and notify the dog’s owner – and, finally and most importantly, the owners should have had their dog euthanized, preferably at home surrounded by his human family, by a veterinarian who makes “final visit” house calls (most humane societies now keep a list of veterinarians willing to perform euthanasia in the pet’s home because it is so extremely stressful for all concerned to bring a terminally ill pet to the clinic – especially large dogs! Why I say this, is that I lost my Jack Russell two years ago this Christmas to chronic kidney disease at the end of which became catastrophic organ failure. I did have a vet willing to work with me to provide home hospice and where hospice is what is going on, pet parents need to keep the animal OUT of the public eye for the exact reason all of this happened as in the posting above. Most of all while I generally agree with hospice for a beloved pet who indicates he or she isn’t ready to cross over yet, sometimes the true extent of the animal’s suffering is not apparent to the immediate family. The photo of the dog in this post shown in a condition of extreme emaciation means that his kidneys and other organs weren’t just failing – they already HAD failed and his body was consuming its own muscle mass to support the last bit of life. The agony an animal goes through when there is maybe 1-5 percent of kidney function remaining and those kidneys are assaulted by the extremely high levels of creatinine phosphokinase that spikes when muscles are deteriorating, in addition to the high blood calcium levels which also cause stone formations large enough for the animal to be unable to pass – ditto further agony – this dog’s suffering must have been off the charts. Owners, even if you choose hospice which is becoming more acceptable among the mainstream veterinarian community please educate yourself about the process of impending death and why and how you should become the one with the ultimate responsibility.